Moonlight and Fire: Nuzlocked
by Wanda Ginny Greenleaf
Summary: Soul is an insomniac girl who longed to find meaning in her life when she was whisked off to a beautiful and dangerous world. Lucian was a Cyndaquil burning with the need to find and destroy what made a once peaceful world dangerous. Together, they begin to journey through Johto and unravel a secret that some would kill to bury. Based on my SoulSilver Nuzlocke.
1. Chapter 1

**Moonlight and Fire, a SoulSilver Storylocke**

_**Hello everyone, and oh man oh man! I have begun my first Nuzlocke! To those of you who are wondering what happened to my Mystery Dungeon fic, I found that the story required some major revisions so I put it further back (also I'm juggling a stupid number of Harry Potter fics). It'll come back eventually!**_

_**For the, say, eight of you out there who don't know what a Nuzlocke is, it's a self imposed challenge with two basic rules - you can only catch the first Pokemon on any Route you travel on, and if a Pokemon faints, it has died and must be permaboxed. also, I have to nickname all Pokemon - but since I do that already, I figured it didn't really count. As of now, I don't have any rules about legendaries...but considering the plot that is materalizing for this particular story, I might bring it up later. **_

_**Now, I realize that most people either draw comics or use screenshots to do runs. However, I have to two major problems with that - my current computer is kind of buggy, so I don't want to risk downloading an emulator from a weird site and mess everything up. Also, when it comes to comics, I can't draw worth a damn even if I wanted to. I am, however, good at writing, so I opted to do a storylocke run. I'm new to the challenge, so I'm interested in seeing what happens and trying a new challenge. **_

_**With all that said...let us begin! I do not own Pokemon.**_

**Prologue**

"Soul, are you still awake? If I find you playing Pokemon again when you should be sleeping... honestly, you have school to worry about..."

The door opened a crack. The owner of the voice, a mother of thirty six years, looked inside. She didn't want to be obtrusive, but the door was always jammed shut to deal with the occupants phobias of the night. It often meant that, late at night, she was up and playing on that childish game instead of getting the rest she needed.

The room was messy, with piles of manga everywhere and plush dolls scattered on the floor from restless tossing and turning. The light from the nightlight cast twisted shadows across the floor and the dresser. A red 3DS was sitting on the top of the desk next to the bed, lights off except for the red light that indicated charging.

"...you spent the evening on that, didn't you...? ...Oh, Soul. That childish pastime won't prepare you for the world ahead of you..." The woman sighed.

She couldn't have been more wrong, but she wouldn't have known it at that moment.

"At least you're still in your room now, though..."

On the bed itself, the covers were twisted around a lump that indicated the occupant's presence. She was sprawled out, but apart from the light rising and falling that indicated her breathing, she was completely motionless. Other times, she had been sitting upright, either turning the pages of her books or staring down at a bright white screen, before shooting up and looking guiltily at her. The mother worried about this; childhood wouldn't last forever, and her child was lagging behind in the skills she needed when her time of innocence was over.

_Perhaps they wouldn't have to get her pills after all_, the mother thought. _She's been up so many times, and its worse because she goes outside this late. I wish there was some way this could be made easier for her...I don't want to take those games away from her, but she has to get her grades up if she's going to get into college. _

The lump twitched, and the mother hesitated. However, the person under the blankets seemed to be merely turning in her sleep, and she had done enough of that over the years that she was convinced it was genuine.

Satisfied, the mother left the room.

The creaking of the stairs slowly faded away. After a few minutes, the lump moved, the blanket falling away.

Sitting up in bed, a young woman rubbed at her eyes and sighed. Her brown hair fell around her face like a dishevelled, tangled mane. Her skin was pale, paler then some would consider healthy, but she spent a lot of time indoors. Her hands were scratched up from an excess of climbing – climbing trees, climbing concrete, climbing houses. Her nails were dirty; she wasn't the kind of person who often took notice of these sort of things. Pushing her hair aside revealed deep blue eyes rimmed with dark rings, a youthful but tired face.

"...childish, huh? Thanks mom..." The girl muttered, her eyelids stubbornly remaining open.

She collapsed back against her pillow, long hair splaying all over the place. She thought about sleep even though she knew it was useless. The cracks in the ceiling never changed no matter how many times she counted them trying to put her mind to rest. The buzzing of thoughts and images inside her head didn't go away no matter how hard she tried to focus on the silence of her room.

She suspected that she had chronic insomnia, but her mother was more inclined to believe it was just stress. There was some merit in that, but getting by on a few hours of sleep at a time was easier said then done. She could hear her parents.

_Oh Soul, I know you don't like it...but you have to soldier through it. It's your future. You'll find that it gets easier in time..._

"...I know mum," Soul sighed. "I need to get through high school to have a good future...but I just can't find _meaning _in anything I do..."

That thought alone was enough to keep her awake. Soul thought that, more then anything else, her lack of desire to reach anything in this world was what was wearing her down. She wandered through her life because she had to, but she simply had nothing to make out of her self.

Soul sat up and slipped into her shoes, which she had placed on the other side of her bed to avoid rousing her mother's suspicions. Her bag, usually reserved for books, was there as well; she slung it over her shoulder without much forethought. She walked over to the window and quietly opened it, before swinging her legs over the side and stepping down onto the roof, closing the curtains behind her.

The big city, for all its bright lights and main roads, was not a place most people should travel at night (or so Soul was continually warned by her parents and teachers thanks to her continuing escapades). Soul was restless enough on some nights that she went out anyway.

And at this point, she would welcome a struggle for her safety if it meant igniting something inside her dull, cold heart.

Slipping down the roof and onto the railing, Soul stepped onto the deck and walked down the alleyway between her house and the next. That night, she wondered what to do with herself...there wouldn't be much to see down at the lakefront, but it was her favourite place to go during the day, and perhaps the scent of the sea would help her feel better. It had before.

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The buses are never crowded late at night. The bus drivers sometimes asked questions about what a fifteen year old girl was doing up and about at two or three in the morning. Soul told them whatever sounded plausible at the time – she was going to see family that had gotten sick early that evening, she was going home from a late flight, that sort of stuff. People rarely pried further then that, she found.

The bus pressed on further into the city. Soul leaned against the window and found her thoughts straying to the games she enjoyed playing. Pokemon.

A world so vastly different from her own, it allowed herself to fall into it and forget the world that seemed to just pass her by. Perhaps it wasn't fair, but the world of Pokemon seemed to have more possibilities then the one she lived in.

It promised greatness and adventure, both things Soul longed for during the nights she spent trapped in her own thoughts, longing for something different then what she had.

It made her feel like she could achieve something, that she wasn't just some insomniac who was failing high school, who might have to live on a minimum wage job, who longed to make something out of herself as opposed to just being a face in a crowd that would never have a name as the world passed on without her.

The stop for the lake came up. Soul hit the stop request button and left through the back door. The lights from the street lamps cast winding shadows around her, and the moon seemed to be shining brighter then Soul could ever remember.

Glancing behind her just in case, Soul started walking. Her mind was as alert as ever; she walked and walked along the pathway that was usually covered by bikers who would tear past you by a few inches, going at speeds that would make you think the devil himself was after them. Walking out to the water's edge, Soul gazed out across the depths of the water.

It was black in the nighttime, but in the light of the moon the ripples and the waves seemed almost alive. Soul took a deep breath of a lake breeze and found herself smiling slightly, for the first time in many hours.

_Is it me...or does something seem different tonight? _Soul wondered, staring out across the water. _There's something in the air...the city doesn't usually feel like this at night..._

She started, and squinted. The waves seemed to be...twisting up, almost. Like it was going in circles and circles...

Wind started picking up around her. Soul blinked and stood up in a hurry. _I don't remember strong winds being told on the weather report... _

The water was _definitely_ twisting up, like a whirlpool...was it falling away? There was a great sucking noise like in a drain, and the wind grew so strong Soul was almost knocked off her feet. The thought of running fled; she hardly dared move lest she be flung into a tree.

Then, with a great eruption, something exploded out of the water. Soul's eyes widened until she thought they would bug out of her head.

Something birdlike, something huge, had appeared, raining water down on her and the docks. It was bigger then a car, bigger then a train; she had never seen anything like it. Her whole body froze with fear and wonder. Two bright blue eyes gleamed light floodlights as the creature swung its massive wings back, nearly blotting out the moon. Soul had seen airplanes smaller then the creature directly in front of her.

Soul couldn't breathe, she couldn't think, she just stared up at it. Those two blue eyes stared back, the beating of the wings causing waves to crash against the dock.

"_**...At long last...I've found one." **_

Soul tried to say something, but the connection between her brain and her throat was refusing to work, so she squeaked instead. The words rang in her head like a gong, passing through but not really registering. It sounded like several voices speaking at once, a royal cry that had long gone unheard in her world.

"_**One with a soul of silver." **_

The massive beast paused in its flight for a moment. Soul couldn't see anything with its back to the moon, but something in the back of her mind found the shape of the creature familiar.

"...W-...Wh-...Who are you?" She whispered, her voice catching in her throat. Soul realized dimly that she was shaking like a leaf, though by some miracle she wasn't been thrown around by the wind. She wondered why no one else seemed to have seen this beast, why she couldn't hear anything other then the roaring wind and water.

The creature looked down at her. Those pair of glowing blue eyes seemed to pierce right through Soul's chest, seeing everything that there was and ever would be.

"_**...You seek purpose. You long for self identity, for your life to have meaning. You wish for a world where you are needed."**_

Soul's jaw worked in a futile attempt to form words. _What...how...what is... _Her usually bright mind was completely at loss. _Am I dreaming? _

"_**...I can give you both. But it will be a dangerous road. Would you be prepared for it? Prepared to take the world on your shoulders?"**_

_What kind of question was that? ! _Soul was pretty sure that you didn't go around asking teenaged those sorts of things. But then again, the people asking usually weren't giant dragon-bird things!

_What_ was this thing, _how _did it know the things she only asked herself, deep in the night...was she hallucinating? no. Soul was pretty sure hallucinations didn't feel like the wind trying to fling you through the air like a ragdoll, or a giant dragon-bird creature she couldn't even put a name to hovering right in front of her...

But wait. She _could _put a name to this thing...it just wasn't coming to her right now...

And also...

The things she wanted...the only thing she would ever ask for.

So thoughtlessly, wonderingly, shakily, she said, "I could."

"_**...Good answer, Soul of Silver. Take care, and may Arceus be with you." **_

Suddenly the dragon flew towards her. Soul shrieked, sure she would die, but then those shadowed wings enfolded her.

There was a bright light, a brighter light then she had ever seen, and she knew no more.

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Soul could see a bright light, like she was sitting too close to the TV screen late at night. _Am I dying? _She wondered. People talked about seeing a bright light before they died...she could still hear the wave shooting up and crashing down around her, feel it rushing around her, pulling her away from everything, see the shadow of that creature before her...

The noise was gone now, though...and so was everything else. The bird seemed to be gone, but so was the lakeshore and the city sounds and... She couldn't see anything in the dark that surrounded her. She was floating in a sea of blackness.

The only thing left was that light.

_I can't feel my legs...or my arms. What just happen? Did I fall on the pavement? Am I hurt? In a coma? Dead, even? What happened back there? _

_..._

_...?_

_Can I hear someone? _

"...Hello!"

"Huh?"

"Welcome to the world of Pokemon!"

Soul blinked rapidly. The darkness was shifting around her...and in the distance, the light grew brighter. In the light...she could just barely make out something...It looked like a cat with an extra long tail. Soul tried to focus, but it was too hard for her eyes. She was pretty sure cats weren't supposed to look like that...

Pokemon...to her, those were games, books, and a tv show...The world of Pokemon didn't exist for her, however much she would have liked it too. _Am I hallucinating? That would make sense...but why would Pokemon come up? After I fell in a broken train..._

"Am I dead?" Soul asked. She couldn't open her mouth, but the sound of her voice echoed in the abyss around her.

"Nope." The voice responded. It sounded friendly...and very young, like an overly excited six year old. "You'll be fine. Sorry about the dramatics...my dear twins always had a flare for it. But we really do need your help."

"You...do? Who are you?" Soul asked, squinting in a vain attempt to see her apparent rescuer.

"I hope you don't mind staying here for a while."

"Staying...here?"

_What's that supposed to mean? _Soul blinked heavily though she wasn't expecting her vision to clear now. Her rescuer giggled, in a way that I hadn't thought people giggled.

"You'll understand eventually. Just...thank you. We've looked so hard for someone who'd be able to do this...we'd nearly given up. I'm sorry it's all on your shoulders...but without you...please, help us. We need you."

The light was growing brighter, and the world was fading around her.

"Wait! Come back!" Soul pleaded, but the world went white and she heard and saw no more.

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Soul felt cool, recently washed sheets under her fingers before she opened her eyes. The room was cooler then she remembered, the air conditioning had broken a few weeks ago and her father was yet to find a replacement. It would have been faster to say which parts of her body didn't feel like lead; it was as if she had been sleeping forever.

Her eyelids felt heavy. Moving any part of her felt like an enormous undertaking. _Can't hear any sirens...can't here cars or anyone talking or anything...wonder how long I've been here..._

She tried moving her arms. They shifted across smooth, soft sheets. _How'd I get back to my room? Did someone see me passed out and take me to a hospital? _Her second thought – _Oh, mom's going to be pissed if that's what happened. It would be almost better to be unconscious. _

Her next thought – _then, was all of that a dream? Maybe I fell asleep after all..._

She propped herself up on her elbows, cringing as as body cramped up. _Easy does it...I'm just lucky I didn't break anything...I wonder what that wind was..._

Slowly, Soul opened her eyes and blinked the world into focus.

She was in a room...that was most certainly _not _her room. The colour of the walls had somehow gone from blue to yellow. Her desk was in the wrong place, and her computer was there instead of charging downstairs because her room didn't have a three hole plugin. There was a TV there too – and a game system attached to it. Her mother had made it very clear she didn't want a TV-connected game console.

Soul sat up quickly. _What the hell? _Had some weirdo confused her for their own daughter and taken her home? Or had she been picked up by a creeper? Or...hang on...

This room looked...familiar...

Soul swung her feet onto the floor and cautiously put her feet onto the floor. They felt stiff and weak, but she didn't seem to be injured, so she stood up.

This room...right, it looked like the HeartGold and SoulSilver game she had just bought! She had just gotten to Chuck's gym before trying to go to sleep for the night...was she dreaming about it now?

That would make some sense...though this dream was surprisingly vivid. Usually whenever she was supposed to be dreaming, she just hung in a murky blackness, partially aware, always waking up tired. Even when she did dream, they were usually confused messes and blurred colours that didn't make sense even in a dream.

Soul thought for a moment. The room didn't seem to be going away, and if she was dreaming, she might as well play along.

"Well, if this is meant to emulate a Pokemon game, I should probably go downstairs...see what happens..." She decided.

Soul headed for the staircase and slowly made her way down it. The house was nice-looking, but Soul couldn't help but notice all the picture frames that would have held family pictures were empty. She shivered and walked a little bit faster.

At the bottom, there was a woman who vaguely resembled her mother, only younger looking. She looked at Soul, and her face was flooded with a stark relief...and was that fear?

"Hi, Soul! You're finally awake." She said brightly – a little too brightly. "Your friend Ethan was just here. He was playing hide-and-seek with his Marill."

Right. Ethan. Soul hadn't been entirely receptive of Ethan's appearance in this game just because he was such a non-entity you probably could have cut him out and passed his tutorial dialogue off to some other NPC.

But she was dreaming, so maybe her mind would make him less annoying.

"Oh! I almost forgot!" Now 'mother' was definitely looking strained. "Our acquaintance, Professor Elm, was looking for you. He said he had a favour to ask of you."

"Uh...okay." Soul said, shrugging slightly. Professor Elm...It would be nice to see a Pokemon. Even in a dream. I can do that."

The mother looked absolutely relieved. "That's wonderful!" She said. "Do you know where the lab is? It's right next door to us. And...you've already got your bag." The woman immediately trust a small card into Soul's hand. Soul blinked and looked down at it. It had her picture on it, and a number. Her trainer card. "Please, hurry."

_Okay, that was weird. _Soul thought, before heading towards the door. On her way out, she caught sight of herself in the mirror. Thankfully, she had not been put into Lyra's silly-looking outfit. She was wearing her usual casual outfit – jeans, hunger games t-shirt with a burning Mockingjay on it, and running shoes. Her bag was with her, which was nice. She stepped outside the house.

New Bark Town looked beautiful. Soul had lived most of her life in a big city, but she loved rural towns. Something about them helped her sleep more easily. The sea was right next door, and the town was quite small – only a few houses and Professor Elm's lab.

It was just as Soul would have imagined it...except for a pervasive feeling of urgency.

Something bumped against her legs. Soul looked down. It was a Marill. Soul wasn't sure exactly how she would have imagined seeing her very first Pokemon – in person, as opposed to pixels on a screen. She wasn't sure what she'd say or do. But what she saw wasn't what she had imagined, either way.

The small, round creature looked up and beamed at her. Soul felt something inside her clench. _They looked cuter then I thought they would've in real life. But maybe it's just the dream adjusting things..._

"Hey! ...Soul!" Soul turned in the direction of the voice. Ethan had appeared from the stairwell that lead to the second floor of Professor Elm's place. The Marill immediately rushed over to him and jumped into his arms. The boy grinned, but he kept staring at Soul.

"The Prof's waiting for you! Hurry up, there's no time to loose!"

_What the heck was up with everyone?_ Soul wondered as she started walking towards the Professor's lab. _I don't remember being rushed towards getting my first Pokemon. Then again, the only thing I really remember about the very beginning of this game was that it was really tedious...maybe I'm overthinking things. _

Soul reached the door and pushed it open. The lab was bright and white, but it looked in a state of disarray that she wouldn't have expected from a well-known professor. There was only one person there – another scientist – and he gasped when he saw her. Soul felt him looking critically at her as she walked by.

_Okay. This is getting creepy, for a dream about Pokemon. _

"Soul!"

Soul blinked and looked up at Professor Elm. The man was taller then she had expected, but the sprites in the game had made everyone look the same height. His hair was sandy and he was wearing glasses, and he _definitely _looked worried.

"Hello, Soul! Thank goodness. I've been waiting for you." The relief in his expression was palpable; he put down his clipboard and hurried over to her. There were familiar dark rings under his eyes; he too had slept little over the past few days. Soul admitted that her attention was mainly on the desk just beyond his shoulder. A kiosk with three red Pokeballs on it. The starters.

Soul didn't really have a preference when it came to the starters in Pokemon. Sure, they were all cute, but they all had their own strengths and weaknesses in their Region, so it depended on what kind of challenge she wanted. Tododile meant impressive coverage, especially with the dragons later on, but Cyndaquil had more direct advantages over more gym leaders...and there was a chance to find other ice types later in the game.

"...Are you listening? Please, we don't have much time."

Soul's attention snapped back to Professor Elm. The Professor was looking very anxious, and this was beginning to wear on her. She welcomed a lucid dream, but this was getting a bit tedious.

"O-kay, is there a reason everyone's freaking out?" Soul asked, raising an eyebrow.

She saw movement at the far window and looked towards it. It had been open, the curtains fluttering in the breeze.

_That's odd. In my dreams, all small movements just...don't happen. Flowers don't sway, breezes don't flow...the doctors say its because my dreams are so shallow REM doesn't fully work. Everything except me is always static. What's going on?_

She saw a flash of grey and red, and then nothing. _Was that Silver?_

Soul shook her head and brought her attention back to the present. She spoke something that had been on her mind ever since the dream started."Seriously, first my 'mom', then Ethan, now you? This is getting weird for a dream."

"Your name is Soul, right?" Elm added as if he hadn't heard the question, beginning to pace. "The Kimono Girls said that was it, but you can never be sure with them and their mysticism talk."

"...Yeah, I think I know what my name is," Soul said, a feeling of trepidation welling up in her stomach. "You going to answer me or not?"

"Great!" Elm responded. Soul sighed. _It's just a dream. It's like that some times, like no one else know's your there. I would have known that, if I had more dreams..._ "I trust you know about my research? Pokemon are usually carried in Pokeballs.

"Yeah yeah, except before Pokeballs existed Pokemon would walk alongside their trainers." Soul sighed. "Can we skip this part? The intro to this is so long."

Once again, the Professor continued as if he hadn't heard her. Soul scowled and crossed her arms.

"But the level of detachment that trainers these days possess has turned our world into a dangerous place. Pokemon are seen as tools, not living beings. There has been more violence and death over the past three years then there ever was before." He continued.

That hadn't been in the script.

"Whoa whoa whoa, _wait _a second!" Soul sputtered, sure she had heard that wrong.

"Yes?" Professor Elm paused in his pacing to give her a curious look.

"Violence? Death? I thought...I mean...this is _Pokemon,_ though. Pokemon don't die! They faint!"

"They used to," Elm answered heavily. He turned around, as though steeling himself to handle some bad memories. Abruptly, he faced her again, his expression twisted with anger and grief. Soul took a step back, shoulders tensing on instinct.

"You know about Red, and how he defeated Team Rocket and became Champion of Kanto." The Professor said.

"Y...Yes?" Soul said, trying to wrestle down her growing panic. Suddenly, she wanted to wake up, Pokemon or no Pokemon. Something felt very wrong.

"A few months later, something was dumped into the Pokecentre system. Those who do serious Pokemon training – which is nearly everyone with a licence – at some point go to the Pokemon Centre to heal tired and weakened Pokemon. Do you know how the systems work?"

"...No..."

"There's a mixture that works with a Pokemon's natural healing, accelerating it until they are healthy again. It can be bottled and taken for travelling – those are the potions, super potions and so on. The Centers always used a more advanced version of it."

"So...I get it. What happened?"

"What happened was someone – no one knows when, or how, or who – put a foreign containment into the storage systems where the mixes were kept. No one realized it until the tragedies started piling up, and even then by the time they figured out the source...it was too late." Professor Elm shook his head and gazed despairingly at the floor. "Almost every pokemon now has a potion coursing through them that weakens their natural healing. Fainting became death."

Soul was starting to feel dizzy. "...Oh, no..."

"We're not sure what the potion itself is, but people these days refer to it as Nuzlocke." Professor Elm finished.

Silence fell over the lab.

Soul felt the ground tilt beneath her but knew in her gut that falling wouldn't wake her up. She choked, and eventually said, "Okay, this is a very lucid dream but I think I'm going to wake up now."

She pinched herself on the arm, hard. Pain lanced through her, but her usually shallow sleep did not abate. Panic welled up in her stomach. _It's _never _had for me to wake up._

"Are you alright, Soul?" Professor Elm frowned at her.

"Um, I-I guess so," Soul mumbled, head whirling. _What the everliving fudge... _"Just...having a hard time digesting it." _...This can't be happening..._

"I understand. It's horrible...but there might be a way of fixing it. But only someone with unshakable fortitude stands a chance of completing it...which is why I had the Kimono Girls look for you." Professor Elm looked beseechingly at her.

_Kimono Girls...dark shadow of a monster I'd never seen before...waking up here...nuzlocke...oh, Arceus. Either I've gone mad, or-_

"Soul, please. We need you to save our region. Not just us...but Kanto too. Red has disappeared...he was the people's champion. Without him, we were lost." Professor Elm pleaded.

It sounded strange to Soul's ears, hearing a grown man beg her for something. "Now that you're here, I'm asking you – don't put all your Pokemon in their balls. Have one of them walk along side you. Not as a tool for success, but as a loving companion and irreplaceable friend. Its the only way we can turn this around."

"..."

"Soul?"

"..._I've never done a Nuzlocke." _Soul whispered.

She had heard the word before. Where she was from, it was a self-imposed challenge; one she had never attempted (though she had considered it). She'd heard other people talking about it, about the challenge and the losses. To them, it had been an adventure, to her a curiosity.

In this world, this dream, it was a death sentence. Failure weighed like gravity. Her mind could only reel, trying to decide whether what she was seeing was fact or fiction.

"I beg your pardon?" Elm asked, confused.

Soul shook her head. "R-Right." _Panic later. Panic later. _

_Hell – ask him about it. Maybe he'll know, tell you what happened..._

"T-If I do this, will you tell me how to get home?"

Now Elm looked confused. "Of...of course. I'm assuming the Kimono Girls helped you get here without Pokemon, but once you're champion you should be able to travel between cities with ease."

_...Oh, I was brought here all right. _

_At least, I think I have. _

_Okay. Fine. I'll do this. But I need conclusive proof that I'm either dreaming or crazy, and the only way to do that is..._

"...then...should I pick my starter?" Soul asked nervously.

Elm nodded. "Right this way. There are three I have here...they all have it in their blood too, but I had little choice. I rescued them from a burning forest; they would have died without the Center. This one is-"

"It's okay. I know." Soul murmured. Elm made a noise of surprise, but Soul's attention was on the three Pokeballs. She raised a hand and stared down at them, trying to calculate through her confusion and fear who she should choose.

_If they could die...the Chikorita would be better off staying here...there are just too many disadvantages and not enough to keep it afloat. The other two...Totodile has impressive coverage, and Cyndaquil more advantages...if this is real, I think..._

She grabbed the one on the far right. The Pokeball fit snugly in the palm of her hand. Soul felt like it was heavier then anything she'd held before, thanks to her nerves.

"You want Cyndaquil?"

"Yes." The moment of truth. Soul blinked hard and pressed the small button on the ball. It popped open immediately, a bright white flash starting, turning red, and finally a small blue and red figure appeared on the floor.

Soul knelt down in front of the Pokemon and hesitantly reached out and touched it.

The small creature was very furry, and the fur pulsed with warmth like an electric blanket. It looked up at her with bright green eyes, and something inside Soul went numb. The small creature beamed at her.

"Greetings, fair trainer! You have chosen well, if you wish to fight our way across this desolate world in search of a cure for those weaker then ourselves. For I am the mighty Lucian, Typhlosion and prince to be, and I swear on my good name that I will defend you from all dangers."

Soul looked blankly at Cyndaquil, her hand still resting on his head as she took all this in.

_Well. _

_Okay._

_I'm in another world._

It took Soul a minute to realize the scream that had nearly shattered the windows had come from her.

**End Chapter**

_**Behold, the hope of Johto. It took me a little while to decide on Lucian's personality since I didn't want to be generic - and after a little gameplay, I decided he was a battle-ready would-be knight of the realm. He's a bit pompous now, but as the adventure continues, who knows what will happen! **_

_**Name: Lucian. Species: Cyndaquil. Nature: Relaxed. Ability: Blaze**_

_**See you next update!**_


	2. Chapter 2

**Moonlight and Fire, a SoulSilver Storylocke**

**_Wanda: I'm back! Geez, I had forgotten how long the intro to SoulSilver was. Well, that gives me plenty of time to focus on the beginnings of Soul and Lucian's adventures and dynamics. The reason this is coming out so soon after the first chapter is that I've already played the Nuzlocke up to Falkner's gym, so I have some ground to catch up on. Updates will likely be more spaced apart afterwards. I don't own Pokemon._  
**

**Chapter 1**

"...Really? Am I that bad-looking? I would have expected a little warmer welcome for such a prime fighter!"

It took a couple seconds after Soul, having a minor mental breakdown after processing the fact she was in another world (seriously, when did that ever happen in real life?!), realized that the Cyndaquil had just spoken to her. Twice. In fact, he was looking at her with a fairly confused and mock-hurt look.

Of course, once she processed _that _as well, she was tempted to start screaming all over again, but managed to restrain herself.

_Okay. Okay. So Pokemon are real. Lord, did I really just think that? Pokemon are real! Mother of – Soul, calm down, calm down! Worse things could have happened. You could've landed in Evangelion or something like that. _

Professor Elm was looking at her in concern...possibly questioning her mental health at the time, but Soul was too wrapped up in her internal panic to notice much.

_Relax, Soul. It's a problem, no mistake, but just a problem. Same as any other problem you've ever looked at. There's a problem, find a solution._ _You just...you just have to figure out what the hell happened, and...and figure something out. _

"S-Sorry," She responded, doing her utmost to sound calm and right in the head. "I didn't mean any offence. I just had a long night, and I wasn't expecting you to talk."

"You weren't?" Lucian asked, flabbergasted. Smoke drifted from the red dots on his back, where flames would sprout during battle. "Spend the entire journey saying nothing at all? How could I leave my trainer to make such important choices without my good council?"

"Erm...thank you. That's thoughtful." Soul answered vaguely. _Actually, I was expecting you not to talk at all! Since when did – no, no, I am not going to spend the first few hours of my time in the Pokemon world flailing around in useless panic. _

Professor Elm started when a noise at his computer called for attention. He turned away from Soul and Lucian to answer it.

Now that she was (somewhat) calmer, Soul knelt down and scrutinized Lucian. He was bigger then she had expected him to be, but she could probably hold him in both arms like a housecat if she were to pick him up. "You're cute," She said.

"Cute? My lady, I do protest! I will be a burning sword against the wicked! Not cute, I beg you!" Lucian protested.

Soul felt her lips twitching into a rather immature smile. "Sorry, I can't help it. You're so small and fluffy..." She reached down and picked him up with both hands.

Grinning now, she hugged him against her chest. _I'M HOLDING A REAL FREAKING POKEMON! _

"Please! This is embarrassing!" Lucian protested. "I'm not some infant to be coddled!"

"No." Soul giggled. "You're a level five Cyndaquil."

Lucian sagged into a comical depression at this, while Soul kept giggling.

Panic had given away with a flood of euphoria and energy. A world of Pokemon was stretching out before her! And she was going to travel through it. Soul thought about all the different types, some of her favourites...Typhlosion, Dragonite, the Eeveelutions, Kabutops, Aerodactyal...there were so many possibilities...and the gym badges! Championship!

Soul's head was spinning and she couldn't stop giggling.

"Erm...Soul?"

"Yes?" Soul managed, still giggling like a four year old, turned her head towards Professor Elm.

"Can I ask a favour of you?" Professor Elm asked, looking a bit nervous. "I just got an email from my acquaintance, Mr. Pokemon."

"Mr. Pokemon?" Soul repeated, incredulous. "...He must have gotten teased a lot in high school for that name."

Professor Elm blinked a few times and stared at her for a second before continuing. "W-Well, he said that he's discovered something, but I can't really afford to leave my lab. It's probably an egg, too. Would you mind going over there and seeing what it is for me?"

"Sure!" Soul said, feeling the biggest, stupidest smile still on her face. She set Lucian down on the floor, the small creature looking a bit put out at the indignity that she had lavished upon him but still happy that he was going out.

Relief flooded Elm's face. He had begun to worry that there was something very off about the girl the Kimono Girls had brought, but she seemed to have calmed down. Now she was beaming brightly, like you'd expect from a girl who'd been given her first Pokemon. She accepted the task easily enough now, which was encouraging.

"That's great! You should probably take these though." He handed her several blue bottles. Soul turned them over before realizing that these were potions.

"So that's what those look like!" She said happily. "So...they apply by spraying, then?"

"Yes," Professor Elm responded. "The world is a treacherous place, Soul. Never hesitate to use one of these if you think Lucian is in danger."

Soul nodded. "I get it," She said. "No worries, I'm sure we'll be fine. Right, Lucian?" She looked down at her Pokemon and smiled.

Lucian nodded. "I can't promise you the world, Soul, but I promise I will put my life on the line to assure the success of your journey."

Soul's smile wavered at this. _...We call it Nuzlocke. _All her trials in the games...those had been normal play. Pokemon hadn't been in any danger. But here, if she made a big mistake, Lucian...

"Right...let's go..." She said quietly. Lucian blinked at his trainer's rapid change of mood, but walked along beside her when she abruptly spun around and walked quickly and with purpose out the door of Elm's lab.

Professor Elm watched her leave until the door swung shut. "We're counting on you, Soul." He said encouragingly to the empty room. He turned and walked back to his desk, turning over papers.

The open window went unnoticed by the few inside.

A slender black form slipped through, feet silently touching the floor. Red hair was hidden under an equally dark hood, the same flash of grey that Soul had seen moments before taking the form of two harsh, stony eyes.

The starter board was a few feet away from him. The slender young man swept silently over to it and looked down at his choices. Inside the balls, the Chikorita and Totodile gave a start and stared up at the unexpected figure. Totodile growled, mentally preparing to defend himself while Chikorita whirled around in her ball in fright, trying to get the attention of the hopelessly absorbed in his work Professor.

The young man regarded both of them coldly, weighing his options. He reached for his left sleeve and rolled it back with one hand. The Chikorita gave a cry of alarm that was muted by her ball.

A long, jagged scar ran up from the wrist under the dark fabric. It looked as though something had tried to slice his arm open, right down to the bone. The gloves he was wearing made it uncertain, but she could also see the edges of scars at his wrist.

He raised his head. Those grey eyes never wavered, though now they were burning with cold fire. Pulling his sleeve down, he looked back at Elm and his assistant, who were both absorbed in their work. He looked back and held out one hand expectantly.

It was the Totodile who realized that the young man was making a statement and an offer. He wanted revenge on those who had wounded him, and he wanted the power to achieve his goals.

The Totodile, who was named Victor, had felt denied by Elm's trainer's choice of Lucian. He still remembered the poisoned fire, the fire that wouldn't be extinguished by his water, that had nearly ended their trio. He had resented the weakness he had felt at that moment, the weakness that had resulted in Elm taking them in and feeding them the poison that put their lives in limbo. He resented Elm for it and he resented the fact he was walled up in this lab, unable to wreak his revenge on those responsible for destroying his world.

He saw a like mind in those cold grey eyes.

With great effort, Victor reared up and slammed his head against the inside of his ball, rolling it towards the stranger. The Chikorita gave a cry of distress, but it made no difference. The young man snatched Victor's Pokeball and turned his back on Elm.

The Professor just looked up to see someone vault out the open window. "W-What? Hey! Come back here!" He rushed over to the window and stared out it. The shadows gave nothing away. Rushing back to his desk, the Professor gave a great cry of dismay to see one of the two remaining starter Pokemon was gone.

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Soul was sitting against the back of a tree, legs pulled in against her chest, looking back at a very dumfounded Lucian.

"So...if I understand you correctly, Soul, you have been spirited here from another world?"

"Yup." Soul said flatly. She had been wildly bouncing between joy, terror, glee, and panic ever since she had left the lab until her baffled starter finally pleaded for an explanation. It had taken her less then a minute, though saying it out loud had resulted in a mild fit of hysteria as she considered the insane, utterly impossible situation she was in.

People didn't just fall through worlds! She should be lying in a hospital bed right now while the doctors explained that this was all just a complex fever dream. But she was out here with a Pokemon in a world that couldn't be real!

"I...I admit, even with the stories the Professor brings in from some of his former students, I have never heard anything like this." Lucian admitted, walking up to her hand and nuzzling it gently. "Are...are you gravely distressed?"

"I...think? I guess it hasn't really sunk in all the way..." Soul responded shakily. "I...I was out walking, very late...I'm an insomniac...I was down by the lake front when some_thing _exploded out of the water."

"Something, you say?" Lucian said, puzzled.

Soul nodded. "Yeah. Never seen anything like it. But...but it's weird. I felt like I should know what it was..." She shook her head. "Then I heard this voice. It said something about me being needed here. I said alright – I mean, what else was I going to say? ! - and then I was here."

Lucian sat down, shaking his small, blue furred head. "This...this is something else entirely. Perhaps we should go back? The Professor-"

"-has enough to worry about right now," Soul interrupted, shaking her head. "I don't think he'd be able to help me even if I told him. I mean, two worlds? That's not something they ever talk about when your training for your doctorate. Let's just finish this job...and then I'll go looking for answers."

Lucian paused before nodding reluctantly. "I suppose I can see the wisdom in that."

Trainer and Pokemon said in silence for a long moment, Soul staring at the clouds, Lucian mulling over what he had learned.

"If I may," Lucian said suddenly, with an air of thought. "To move between two worlds...such a move would require a lot of power. More power then most, human and Pokemon alike, possess. Except for a few who exist mostly in legend."

Soul's eyes widened. "The Legendaries! Of course!" She swung her head over towards Lucian. "This is Johto, so aside from Lugia and Ho-Oh, what legendaries are here? Do you know?"

"Er! I mean, I know of a few," Lucian responded hastily. "The Professor spoke of the legendary birds on occasion...Moltres, Zapdos and Articuno. I heard tale of a blue dragon that tears through the sky as well, but I know not its name."

"...That might be Latios." Soul said. "Hm. I wonder...well, if we take on the gym league, we're bound to run into at least one of them."

She stood up and stretched to her full length, before grinning down at Lucian. "I think this thing we have is going to go places, Lucian! Thanks for cheering me up!" She said with a smile.

"You are most welcome, milady." Lucian responded, surprised by the speed of her recovery but happy to see his trainer out of her funk. "Shall we make tracks?"

"Yes, let's!" Soul said happily, and the two of them set off towards Cherrygrove.

Along the way, there were a lot of Rattata scuttling around in the late evening light. Soul's uncertainties were quickly blown away when Lucian tackled two Rattata into the dirt with the same move.

"You are worrying too much." He chastised her gently. "I wouldn't have gone with you if I couldn't handle the beginning route."

Soul nodded, running her hands through her rough dark hair. "Sorry. I just...haven't seen Pokemon battling from this angle before."

The first route seemed to go on forever. Soul scowled at the fences that had been placed in the most inopportune places; which were _also _bigger then they had looked on the small screens. Turns out you couldn't quite climb over them from the taller side after all.

"There's an awful lot of grass here," She remarked after Lucian turbo-tackled another Sentret he had confounded with Smokescreen.

"New Bark Town is a very rural town," Lucian responded by way of explanation. "The nearest gym leader is Falkner of Violet City. It's a bit of trouble without a sheriff to directly protect us, but most would be criminals are too intimidated by the reputation of the Professor to attempt anything."

Soul looked down at Lucian in surprise. "Professor Elm had a reputation?" That was new. Professor Oak, she sort of got – there were a few indications that he had a tough history, and he had been the first to attempt to document all known Pokemon.

"Before his marriage, he was a great battler," Lucian responded. "He ended his career prematurely when he got married; he didn't think it would be fair to leave his wife at home while he traversed the Region. However, he retains some of his old skills – without them myself and my companions would have surely perished."

"Perished?" Soul asked. "I had this idea that most starters were bred and given to Professors to hand out to aspiring trainers. AGH!" She yelped in pain when a Rattata launched itself out of hiding and sank its teeth into her leg.

Soul wildly kicked it loose and Lucian threw himself at the offending creature immediately. Soul flinched in pain and quickly knelt down. Digging through some of the supplies her 'mother' had put in her bag, she sighed in relief to see bandages.

"There's another thing that never occurred to me," She chuckled dryly, before winding the white bandage around the two deep fang marks.

"We were in luck," Lucian stated once he emerged from the bushes he had flung the Rattata into. "That one was too young to know Hyper Fang or Super Fang. Those attacks could have torn straight through your leg."

"And yet somehow, I don't feel lucky," Soul griped, before hissing as she wound the bandage tight. "I guess I'd better be on the lookout more often."

Lucian sighed. "I'm afraid there are some Pokemon hungry or aggressive enough that they don't think the better of attacking humans. Forgive me, I did not scent him before he sprung."

Soul reached over and petted Lucian on the head. "It's okay Lucian. I'll consider that a lesson for further down the road." She got up again and tested her leg experimentally. There was a twinge of pain but nothing more. "Besides, we're almost at Cherrygrove."

"Good," Lucian exclaimed, bouncing ahead.

"Hey, wait up!" Soul called after him before sprinting after the exuberant Cyndaquil. _Of course, _she thought with a touch of fondness. _This is all new to him...he's probably spent most of his life inside Professor Elm's lab after the accident. This must look as incredible to him as it is to me. _

Bursting into Cherrygrove early in the evening was quite beautiful, especially for a small town. The red and pink light on the waves and the beach was picturesque. There were a number of trees surrounding the small town, and they were all in bloom; it was late spring here.

Soul caught up with Lucian not far from the Pokemon Centre, where they encountered the Guide Gent.

"Hello there missy! Your first time in Cherrygrove, is it?" The old man asked. Soul considered lying, remembering how annoying the tutorial had been, but the guy's face was so earnest and friendly that she gave in.

"Yeah. I mean, I've only seen it on my laptop," She responded, sheepishly running her fingers through her long hair. _Well, that's half true..._

The old man lead her and Lucian around the town, pointing out various locations including the Pokemon Centre and the Pokemart. The need for running shoes did not exist, because Soul already had her own, but the Map was much nicer then she remembered.

When the man left her and her Pokemon at the edge of town, Soul spent a minute just staring at the locations. It looked like the map from the game, but so much larger...and more real. It just seemed to hammer home the fact – Soul was in the world of Pokemon.

Soul felt herself smiling again. The feeling of glee was retuning, but at a more controllable rate. She looked ahead and saw a lot more grass. Funnily enough, though, she found the prospect of traversing it significantly less annoying then when she had been playing the game.

_Real life makes it different, doesn't it...?_

"Let's go, Lucian! Let's see if we can get this all done in an evening." Soul said brightly. Lucian nodded in affirmation, and the two of them ran down the streets.

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In the darkness of Route 31, a Policeman and his Growlithe bolted down a grassy path, scrambling over a fence and nearly bowling over everyone who happened to be walking past.

"Make room! This is an emergency! If you see anyone suspicious, shout!" The policeman shouted, his Growlithe barking loudly to emphasize this. A young woman and a small boy both yelped and threw themselves to either side of the road to get out of the way.

Deep in the trees, a small blue Pokemon snapped in contempt. A dark-clad boy stumbled to a halt, cursing and gripping his side.

"Master?" Victor asked cautiously, turning back towards the young man.

"I'm fine," The redhaired boy snapped, pushing himself off the tree he had been leaning against. His grey eyes were narrowed into slits, though whether in anger or pain Victor couldn't say. He shot his Pokmeon a warning look before looking back towards New Bark Town in disgust.

"Useless idiots...even if they could find me, they'd be no threat." He growled.

"Of course, Master." Victor agreed.

The young man began to move again; he was limping slightly still clutching his side. His concern not yet abated, Victor started, "Master, perhaps it would be best if we found somewhere to turn in for the night. You may be wounded-"

The dark-cloaked boy rounded on him, those powerful grey eyes piercing Victor like Raticate fangs. He saw anger and contempt in them, and was immediately cowed.

"Don't be stupid," The young man snapped. "If we wait around, the idiot brigade might see us. I will not sacrifice time and distance for comfort like the weak always do. And neither will you, if you're planning to stay."

"O-Of course, master," Victor stammered. Satisfied he had made his point, the young man turned and stalked in the direction of Cherrygrove, his red hair now visible at the edges of his hood.

Victor swallowed and hurried to catch up. Clearly his master would require nothing less then high pain tolerance in order to achieve his goal, but the small jaw Pokemon couldn't suppress a twinge of worry of his condition.

_I'll obey you as any Pokemon should, Master. But if it gets much worse, I must get you medicine one way or another. As any loyal Pokemon should. _

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"Why did you take the case, Soul?" Lucain asked as he swatted aside another Pidgey. Soul was regarding a large gold box with satisfaction as they continued on their way to Mr. Pokemon's house. "That man's behaviour was most unsettling."

"It was creepy," Soul agreed immediately. "But Apricorns can be very useful once we make it to Azeala Town. High grade Pokeballs are made our of Apricorns; you never know when that might come in handy."

"I see," Lucian said. "Thinking ahead is the mark of a good leader, Soul."

"Oh, stop," Soul blushed, "You're embarrassing me. Even if I know about Pokemon, this is the first time I've done something like this. It's a learning experience."

"Modest, too," Lucian noted, causing Soul to blush harder.

"C-Can we just find the house?" Soul stammered, causing Lucian to utter something that sounded suspiciously like laughter. Soul shook her head as they approached the last house at the end of the road. Lucian's words were more then just praise; they actually made her kind of nervous.

No one had ever really expected anything of Soul before this; now Lucian seemed to think she was a natural trainer. It worried her because she was used to making mistakes; she hadn't gotten through the whole game and she had never done a Nuzlocke. Soul wondered, if the first time she made a mistake would someone die? Could Lucian die?

The thought was horrible. Lucian may be uptight and silly in his knightly attitude, but he was endearing and – as she had realized – was the first person who ever really expected her to be something other then an unnoticed high school student with bad grades.

Soul vowed that they would train and train to make sure nothing bad would happen to her first real friend. They had already done plenty, mostly out of necessity – there were a lot of wild Pokemon on the route to Mr. Pokemon's house.

Finally, they reached the small house. Plucking the pink Apricon from the tree next to it, Soul put the case in one of the pockets of her suddenly bottomless bag and knocked on the front door.

Almost immediately, it swung open, revealing a roughly middle-aged guy in a brown coat and a top hat. "You must be Soul!" He opened the door wide. "I'm Mr. Pokemon. Come in, come in!"

Mr. Pokemon hurried back into his house, while Soul stepped in slowly. _C'mon...stay calm...you know he's here, so..._

"Good gracious!" Lucian exclaimed. "Professor Oak?!"

Soul scrambled to turn around and stared. She couldn't help it; whatever graceful entrance she had planned for went out the window when she saw the famous professor with her own eyes. It was so surreal; she wondered fleetingly if this was going to be the moment when she woke up, seeing as one of her childhood teachers was standing right in front of her.

"Ah, yes! I was just finished emailing Professor Elm when Oak dropped by!" Mr. Pokemon said cheerfully. "He's come here to be part of the Pokemon Show with DJ Mary! Now, this is what I wanted Professor Elm to look at!"

He handed her a familiar looking egg. The Togepi Egg, Soul realized. She hadn't found a niche for Togepi on her team back when it was just a game, on her world. Lacking the Fairy Typing and a way to evolve it into Togekiss before she received the National Dex, she had ended up boxing it not long after it hatched. _Well, even if I don't plan on making it part of the team, I should still hatch it. I don't feel comfortable boxing an unhatched egg...I don't know if it would make weird things happen here._

Carefully, she slipped the Egg into her bag. Professor Oak, who had been watching in silence, took the following silence as a gesture to approach.

"Your name is Soul?" He asked her; his voice was deeper then she would have thought for an old man. It spoke of years of history, tragedy and triumph. It was the voice Soul should have heard in her classes back home, but didn't. It was exactly as she had expected from him – it was the voice of a real teacher.

"Y-Y-Yes!" Soul squeaked, wishing to God or Arceus or whoever was listening that her voice would just hold steady!

Professor Oak looked down at Lucian. "You...have a rare Pokemon. Ah! So Elm gave him to you, I guess?"

Soul didn't trust herself not to squee like a little girl, so she just nodded with her jaw tightly shut.

Professor Oak examined her for a moment, and Soul was reminded of the dark bird back at home who had stared straight into her heart. "I wonder...there's something different about you, Soul. Would you mind doing something for me?"

_Oh Arceus...is he going to ask me to...?!_

"Yeah! Sure! Anything!" Soul said quickly, all on the same breath.

Professor Oak pulled a small red square device out of his pocket. "I gave one of these to another young man, a few years ago." He said, his tone distant and nostalgic. "I wish I knew why he felt he had to remain on that mountain..."

He blinked, seemingly having forgotten there were other people in the room. "Oh, I'm sorry. I'm not quite as young as I used to be, and I'm finding myself lost in thought. Take this, Soul."

Soul took the red device wordlessly, in one rock-steady hand. It was all she could take not to shout and jump in place. She had a Pokedex! She was holding a real, honest-to-god _Pokedex! _

"This is a Pokedex. It's a high tech encyclopedia that automatically records every Pokemon you encounter." Professor Oak said, giving a rather unnecessary introduction to the device. "I know that with the Nuzlocke epidemic, the League has limited every trainer to one catch per area of land, but I still wish for the Pokedex to be completed someday. I hope you wouldn't mind helping."

"I...I..." Soul stammered. She was sorely tempted to bounce and pump her fist in the air, because Professor Oak was asking her to fill in the Pokedex! "I can't even begin to tell you what a huge honour this is! Of course I'll help! I mean, I might not be able to fill it up but I'll do everything I can!"

Professor Oak blinked, and then smiled gratefully. "Thank you, Soul." He glanced out the window. "It's getting late, you should hurry back to Elm's place. There aren't any particularly dangerous nocturnal Pokemon around here, but it couldn't hurt to be careful."

"Okay!" Soul said brightly, bouncing on her heels. "C'mon Lucian, we better make tracks!" The small Pokemon started, but hurried after his trainer with no further prompting.

Professor Oak smiled. "I haven't seen that kind of enthusiasm since _you_, Red. Good luck, Soul, and be careful."

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Soul stepped out into the evening light, and once the door had swung shut behind her she gave in to her inner fangirl. "Yesyesyesyesyesyes!" She said joyfully, hoping up and down.

"It seems Professor Oak sees potential in you, Soul!" Lucian said, looking both bemused and understanding of his trainer's sudden recession into childish glee. "You should take that as a mighty compliment. The only other trainers who ever received a Pokedex-"

"-were Red and Blue of Pallet Town! I know! I know!" Soul exclaimed, halting her bouncing to drop to her knees next to her Pokemon. "That's what makes this so amazing! Don't you get it? Red was – well, you've got to know who Red was, right?!"

"Of course I do." Lucian responded. "I do not think there's a soul in Kanto or Johto who doesn't. His heroism is famous far and wide."

"And Blue was picked as a gym leader at eleven!" Soul exclaimed. "Or maybe a little after that, but that's still super young to basically be the sheriff of a city, and one of the strongest out there! And he was champion too, if only for a little, and he was definitely eleven then! They're some of the greatest trainers who ever lived...and the idea that _I _could be like them..."

Soul sprang to her feet again and hurried forward to the edge of the field. Hurrying to keep up with her, Lucian looked up at Soul.

Something had changed in his trainer's eyes upon receiving the Pokedex. Something strong and passionate had burst into existence where panic and uncertainty had reigned before. It was as though a small ember choked by dirt had been fanned into a fire.

"...You know, Lucian..." Soul said, eyes fixed on the evening sky. "...I told you I came from a different world, right?"

"Yes?" Lucian responded, not sure where she was going with this.

"Well, back there...I suppose its home, but I never...I never felt like I was doing anything worthwhile." Soul explained, her voice becoming sad. "I wasn't really good at school...or at home...I wasn't a sports queen or a super nerd or social Combee. I wasn't...well, I wasn't really anything."

"How could anyone be 'not anything'?" Lucian asked, surprised.

Soul shrugged, still staring into the distance. "I don't know. I just...couldn't find meaning in the world I lived in. I just did stuff because I had to do it, because there wasn't anything else to do..."

Reverently, she held up the Pokedex she had just received in both hands.

"But here...I've been asked to do things, and when I've done them...I just feel this sense of purpose, like I've never felt before! And now I have a Pokedex...the other two who had these, they made things out of their lives! They did impressive things, amazing things, they touched the lives of other people. I ... I always wanted that kind of connection. I wanted to do something that would give my life meaning."

Soul looked down at him. "And I think I've finally found it! The Pokedex...it's like something just clicked...I feel needed here. No matter what happens next, even if I can't find the legendaries, I want to go on the gym circuit. I want to fight. I want to travel. I...I want to mean something to someone."

Lucian sat in surprise and listened to his trainer pour her heart out to him. He hadn't had much time to register it in the moments when she had either been panicking or delirious with glee, but in that moment Soul seemed vulnerable, and almost sad.

Immediately, he crossed the distance between them and nuzzled her leg. "You already mean something to me, lady Soul. Only a knave would abandon a lost lady. And more then that...I do believe I have experienced more of the world with you then I ever will without you. I think I prefer it this way – the other candidates didn't have the aura you exclude. I'd be happy to be your partner."

Soul looked down and smiled so widely Lucian thought it would split her face. She leaned down, scooped him up and hugged him against her chest. "Thanks a lot, Lucian." She said happily. "I'm glad to have you too."

The happy moment was abruptly interrupted by a loud ringing, not unlike the cell phone Soul had owned back at her home. Soul looked around in confusion before realizing it was coming from the 'key items' compartment of her bag.

"That must be the Pokegear," She realized. It was one of the items she had gotten from Elm; she'd been a bit surprised but had been too consumed by her current predicament to pay it much mind. Pulling it out, Soul was relieved to see that it wasn't much different from her Samsung phone. Quickly, she hit the 'answer' button.

"Hello?" She asked.

Immediately, Professor Elm's panicked voice split the silent air. "Soul! Thank goodness! It's a disaster! Uh, um, it's just terrible! What should I do? It...oh, no...please, just get back here! Hurry!"

Soul's heart dropped into her stomach. She had completely forgotten...why hadn't she...

"Let's go, Lucian!" She yelled, running full tilt back the way they came. Her faithful starter was directly on her heels.

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Soul was gasping for air when she and Lucian bolted back to Cherrygrove. _Did I heal Lucian? If he really is here...the first time I played SoulSilver, I whited out to him. There. I said it. But if Lucian has Nuzlocke, I can't afford it. _

_I can't believe I forgot! Didn't I even _see _him outside? Why didn't I say anything to Professor Elm?_

"How are you feeling, Lucian?" She asked quickly as she paused to catch her breath.

"I...I have been tired by the distance travelled, Soul, but I am ready for battle." Lucian answered.

"Take a potion just in case," Soul said, digging the blue bottle out with shaky hands and spraying the Cyndaquil with it. "If this is who I think it is..."

"You were expecting this?" Lucian said in shock.

"I know a couple of things about this world ahead of time – back in my world, there were these games – long story short, I expected something like this, but through the shock and everything I had completely forgotten about it!" Soul exclaimed, hurrying in the direction of New Bark Town.

"I see! What sort of-"

Lucian broke off when he saw his trainer come to a dead stop. "Soul?" He asked.

His human companion was staring down the path like a Ratatta caught in a Fearow's Pursuit. Lucian turned and saw what she saw, and wondered what had so frozen her.

Emerging from the shadowed route to New Bark Town was a young man dressed in black and dark blue. His black jacket had a hood, but it had been pulled down, revealing long red hair and a pale face. He slowed to a stop a few feet away from Soul, and looked between her and Lucian. At that moment, Lucian understood why Soul had stopped walking.

Eyes the colour of cold moonlight held both trainer and Pokemon where they stood. The boy had one hand in his pocket, the other holding a Pokeball. Victor's Pokeball, Lucian realized with a start.

"..."

Soul blinked.

Yes. She was meeting Silver – this had to be him. He was taller and older then the games had stated – he looked like he was her age. The hood was new, too. He looked dark and imposing.

...But those eyes...

"...You got a Pokemon at the lab. What a waste." His voice was cool, clear and harsh. He didn't move at all, but Lucian dropped into a battle stance as though there was a loaded gun pointed at him.

"Beware, Soul," He whispered. "This boy...he's consumed by an aura of rage."

Soul didn't say anything. She stared back at Silver.

"You'd never make it to the fourth gym." He raised his head slightly, grey eyes flashing. "That Pokemon is too powerful for someone like you."

This snapped Soul out of her trance.

Scowling, she straightened up and took on a fighting stance. Her eyes burned with indignation. "Says the guy who stole his Pokemon." She retorted. "I'm taking it your the person Professor Elm was calling me about!"

Silver looked at her with something approaching amusement, if such a thing was possible. "He thinks you can stop me? That anyone can stop me?"

Soul glared back at him, "Well, since your standing in front of me,I suppose I suppose we'll find out, won't we?"

Silver's eyes narrowed. "I, too, have a powerful Pokemon. I'll show you what the world is like now."

He tossed Victor's Pokeball in the air, and with a flash of red light the small blue 'dile appeared in front of him.

"Victor!" Lucian called out, facing his friend from across a battlefield. "You don't have to obey him! He obtained your ball illegally!"

"Is that what you think?" Victor responded, frowning. "Lucian, this boy...I'm going to stay with him."

"Why?"

"Scratch!" Silver snapped. Victor glanced back at his trainer before lunging at Lucian. The Cyndaquil grimaced unhappily before attacking in kind.

"Tackle!" Soul answered. "Leer!"

Victor had a type advantage, but Lucian had gained a lot more experience then the lab Pokemon currently had. Victor hadn't had a chance to train yet, and with no STAB move, so Lucian could overwhelm him with several tackles.

Silver's expression was remote. Victor, exhausted, glanced up at his trainer. "I'm...sorry..." He whispered before collapsing.

Silver called the Pokeman back without saying anything. Then he looked up and glared at Soul.

"...Do you know want to know who I am? ...I'm going to be the world's strongest trainer."

With that, he walked past her. Soul blinked once, staring at the road in front of her. She didn't try and stop him, but she did get one final word. "What ever you say...Silver." She whispered.

The young man froze a few feet from her and spun around. "How..." Silver blinked and stared at her. After one long frozen moment, he turned again and ran down the road.

Lucian licked his injured forpaw and murmured sadly, "Oh Victor, what compelled you to go with him? Soul, let us make haste...the Professor may be injured."

He made to move and realized his trainer was still standing and staring into the distance. "Soul?"

"...I don't understand."

"I'm sorry?"

"...Silver is so full of rage, you could feel it in the air." Soul said, as much to herself anyone listening. "So full of hate...but...why..."

She turned around and gazed in the direction Silver had disappeared in once again.

"...why were his eyes so sad...?"

%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&

Returning to New Bark Town is easier then leaving it. Soul and Lucian climbed a few fences and managed to return to the small town without being slowed down by wild encounters. Despite Lucian's fears, the lab had not been ransacked and Professor Elm was uninjured.

The policeman struck Soul as very incompetent; Lucian later explained to her that though the League did have a region-regonized police force, said officers tended to rely very heavily on the Gym Leaders for support whenever something serious came up. Gym Leaders were the strongest trainers in their respective cities, after all, and eventually became accepted as the unofficial 'mayor' of sorts as well as someone to challenge. Championship became more then just a fancy title; it fell on them to look after and protect the region from threats that even the gym leaders couldn't face. The Elite Four became hand-picked warriors from the best of the best, especially after the advent of Nuzlocke.

Soul supposed that made a certain amount of sense. She told them what she could about Silver, even though his eyes were still haunting her. _What's with that? He's a thief and a cruel trainer. What was with that sad look? Why would he be in pain? _

For some reason, she couldn't shake these thoughts. If he was her 'rival', in a fashion, she was bound to run into him again...what else about Johto would be different from what she expected?

She apologized to Elm for forgetting and for failing to apprehend Silver; Lucian had been to tired to assist her and Silver was the kind of person who wasn't above fighting with his hands if the situation should call for it.

Professor Elm waved it off. He told her to try and track him down while she was on her journey. Soul took the first five Pokeballs every trainer got, and as she set out to leave New Bark Town again with Lucian, she found herself strangely calm.

Neither was she consumed by panic and uncertainty, but the energy that had risen when she received the Pokedex had eased into a controllable flow. Soul felt more focused then ever before.

Silver...the origins of Nuzlocke...her presence here...she would find answers to all of them if she had to scour Johto and Kanto to their last acre of land.

"Let's go, Lucian." She said determinedly.

**End Chapter**

_**Oof! I wrote most of that in one sitting! It's been a while since words have flowed so easily...maybe I've been writing nothing but Harry Potter for a bit too long. Anyway, Silver! Honestly, Silver is my favorite rival because out of...well, almost all the characters in the main games, he's the one who has the most rounded character and most complete character development. He goes from being a criminal and crueler then Blue in FRLG to being completely reformed. And even when he's a jerk, his background - being the son of a yakuza don who abandoned him to the elements - makes it so clear **_**why _he does what he does while also making him sympathetic. Either way, as I writer I'm looking forward to the challenge of encapsulating his character development accurately as well as Soul's as this story goes on._**

**_Next chapter - catches! Soul makes new friends and discovers that the Pokemon Nuzlocked World isn't as cuddly as it looks._**


	3. Chapter 3

**Moonlight and Fire, a SoulSilver Storylocke**

**Wanda: Woof! I probably shouldn't have gotten too far ahead without writing, because I have a lot to catch up on! And I realize I'm still bad at battle scenes! No matter how much I improve my writing, there's always more to learn. That's an important lesson! Either way, here's the next chapter, where Soul gets a few more Pokemon and has a traumatic encounter! I don't own Pokemon.**

**Chapter 2**

The moon was high in the sky, but Soul wouldn't have been able to sleep even if she hadn't had insomnia. The initial war her instincts had gone through when she had arrived in the Pokemon universe had subsided upon getting the Pokedex, and now she was making her way towards Violet City.

The move was mostly reflexive; it was virtually impossible to travel the later parts of the Region without having a strong team, and without the badges strong Pokemon wouldn't obey her. Not that anyone had to twist Soul's arm to get her to go on the challenge – the lingering fear of Nuzlocke notwithstanding.

She wanted to see Johto. All of Johto, from the highest peaks to the caves. Even if it took her years, there was a beautiful and complex world in front of her, and damn it but she had always wanted to explore! Soul had always wanted to see more of the world, but school and other obligations had kept her confined to the grey city that had always been her home.

And, of course, her old home hadn't had Pokemon in it.

Now, she wanted to be a real trainer, with Pokemon and badges to prove it.

"I can't wait until we get to Goldenrod City," Soul remarked as she and her knight-in-training continued walking through the darkening trees. "The Department Store there has just about everything a trainer could ask for! Sure, some of it's expensive, but if we save on money we should do fine."

"It is along our path," Lucian said. "I admit I welcome anything that could give me a more diverse attack pool."

"Don't worry," Soul responded with a smile. "I'll keep that in mind."

She slowed to a stop in the tall grass and looked around. It was late, so the usual Rattata and Sentret weren't up and about. She could hear hoots in the trees, though, and the glowing eyes of Spinarak were also present deeper within the trees. Soul stepped into the tall grass again and looked around expectantly, Lucian lowering his nose to the ground and scenting for danger.

"So, we're only allowed one catch per route because of the epidemic?" Soul reaffirmed as she and Lucian began scouring the tall grass for their new teammate.

"Precisely," Lucian affirmed. "The League became concerned about species wipeout after the first waves of casualties were brought in. It's to minimize danger to the environment."

"Pity it doesn't affect how dull this route can be."

Soul jerked in surprise and looked up.

Perched on a high tree branch right above her head was a Hoothoot. The small owl-like Pokemon was brown and white with big red eyes. It seemed a bit smaller and darker in color then Soul remembered, which combined with the voice made her guess that this was a female Hoothoot.

"Hello," Soul said, unsure. She was still somewhat adjusting to the idea that Pokemon could talk in a way she could understand them.

"It's awfully late for a pretty young one to be wandering around!" The Hoothoot said with a maternal sounding voice. It was female, and when Soul checked the Pokedex, it registered at level 3.

Soul shrugged slightly, "I have problems with insomnia. That, and I've never slept outside in the elements before." She glanced around as she said this, shuddering at the thought of waking up to find Spinarak or Weedle in her hair.

"Trouble sleeping?" The Hoothoot said thoughtfully. "My species learns a move that can help with that. You'd like a catch for this route, yes? How about you take one of those red balls and bring me along?"

Soul's eyes brightened. "Sure! Thanks." She took out one of the empty Pokeballs and lifted it up. She was trying to decide how best to throw it when the Hoothoot landed precariously on the button that opened the device, causing it to snap open and the newest teammate disappearing into the ball.

Soul stared at the ball in her hands for a few moments before grinning and saying, "I always wanted to try this." She punched the air with the Pokeball in hand. "I caught a Hoothoot!"

She blinked when she realized Lucian was looking at her in confusion. "Uh...anime reference," She explained, half in embarrassment and half in justification. Yeah, back at home, the nicest things that anyone called her were 'dork' and 'weirdo'.

Perhaps not unwarranted, but Soul was hoping to put that behind her on her journey to become a different person.

She pressed the button on the ball and with a flash of white light, the Hoothoot appeared again.

"My name's Emma, dear." The Hoothoot said, blinking her large ruby red eyes in a friendly way. "I promise, you won't regret this!"

"I'm Soul, and this is Lucian." Soul explained. "We're taking on the gym challenge."

"I see!" Emma exclaimed with a flutter. "Few have the courage these days. I remember a time when even this route saw many trainers on their journey. Now they are rarely seen. People seem to prefer to hide behind closed doors to avoid what may come to pass. It's good to see that some of the youth are still spirited."

Soul smiled nervously, _god – Arceus, whoever's listening – I hope I'm not making a mistake. _"I figured that if I'm a little careful, and grind extra hard, there's no reason to count out being able to beat the Nuzlocke. Find out who's responsible for it."

"Good to hear!" Emma replied.

"Pleased to meet you, my lady." Lucian said.

"How polite! I think we will get along quite well." Emma responded, spreading her wings and hovering in the air. "Now, how well can the two of you see?"

Soul squinted. It was getting darker, but there were a series of small white lights dotting the trail. _Those must be there to help trainers who are out late at night. _"Its not completely dark out." More soberly, she added "And I've been out late plenty before."

Lucian and Emma both gave her an odd look. Soul didn't feel like elaborating, so she said, "Wasn't there an entrance to another route up ahead?"

It was Soul's opinion that the Pokemon World was just as beautiful at night as it was during the day. There were thousands of stars in the sky, and the moon glowed like a beacon. _Just like that night, _Soul thought.

With that thought rose something she had been trying to avoid – _when I figure out what happened to me, what will I do? Just go home? I can't take Lucian or anyone I take back with me... well, I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. Right now, I should focus on training Emma._

The Pokedex really shone to this capacity. Soul had turned it on to see if Emma's data had been recorded and found out that it kept tabs on her Pokemon the same way the 'Pokemon' option on the game menu had back at home. It showed levels, natures, moves and experience required to level up. Lucian was at level eight and two levels away from learning Ember, so Soul let him sit back while she focused on training Emma.

Luckily, Emma was a fairly hardy Pokemon, and she surprised her trainer very quickly.

"Great work, Emma! You've grown to level 5 and – wait, you know Hypnosis _now_?!" Soul gaped at the Pokedex's screen, sure she was seeing things.

"Of course, dear!" Emma said, alighting on her shoulder. "All of my species learn it at a very young age. In a world where we have many predators, it is one of our best defence mechanisms."

_Already, Emma has a move that has a 60% change of putting opponents to sleep. _Soul thought, grinning as the surprise dissolved into glee. _Finally, my insomnia does me some good!_

"This is great, Emma!"

Soul kept up training Emma as the moon continued its ponderous journey across the sky, and after not much longer she was struck by a familiar feeling.

Her body was growing tired, but her mind was still alert and racing with possibilities. This was always the preface to a painful headache on the nights when she only caught a few hours of sleep. Her doctor had told her on multiple occasions that this was her body's way of telling her that it was strained, and repeated instances of it could result in permanent damage.

Knowing that lying down and trying to rest while her brain was still so wired was pointless, Soul elected to check out Route 40 before seeing if there was an inn or anything in Cherrygrove city.

The thought brought her up short. _Would I have the money to pay for lodging? _Hotels and the like hadn't been cheap back at home, and unless her 'mother' and Elm had given her money along with the other tools they'd provided her, Soul was flat broke.

"My lady, have you become weary?" Lucian enquired when he realized Soul had stopped walking.

Soul waved him off in what she hoped translated to 'hang on a moment' as she sat down rather heavily on the nearest rock she saw. She dug through her bag until she came up with a change bag, and gave an audible sigh of relief.

"Oh, good. For a second I was afraid I was –WHOA!"

Both Lucian and Emma hurled forward as Soul was pitched off the rock she had been sitting on. The teenager landed on her side, thankfully not spraining anything, before looking around wildly for what had attacked her.

Her eyes focused on...the rock she had been sitting on. Emma opened her eyes wide, and beams of purple light splashed across the clearing and the not-rock, causing it to stop moving.

Soul got up and walked over to it...and realized the rock had arms.

"First rock I sit on, and its a Geodude." She said, smacking herself in the forehead. "Lord, I had forgotten that they could pass off as normal rocks. Sorry guys, I'm alright. I guess this guy is out catch for this area, too."

"Our catch? She could have hurt you!" Lucian protested.

Soul shook her head, before throwing a Pokeball at the sleeping Geodude. It was caught easily enough, the ball bouncing back to her hand. _So it's a girl? Oh. When you look like a rock, it's hard to tell. _

"Hey, I did sit on her. No one likes getting sat on. Besides, the first gym's a flying-type, so having her around would be really helpful." Soul explained. Sighing, she rubbed her eyes.

Lucian walked up to her and brushed against her leg. He didn't have to say anything to convey his concern.

"Right. Let's hit Cherrygrove and see if there's an Inn." Soul said placating.

/

Is it turned out, Cherrygrove did have an Inn, one owned by the Guide Gent who had helped Soul earlier that day. Soul was more grateful then ever that she had chosen not to blow him off. It was even less expensive then she had expected it to be! According to the lady at the desk, trainers got a discount thanks to all the travelling they had to do. Soul smiled, thanked her, and took her two Pokemon upstairs to her room.

Groaning, Soul collapsed on the bed. Emma flew over to the bedpost and said, "Does this happen often?"

Soul sighed and nodded.

"Oh dear," Emma made a crowing noise that sounded like a downplayed version of a Hoothoot's full-out cry. "Well, I can help you sleep every now and then, dear, but its not healthy for humans to be constantly exposed to psychic waves. Your minds are quite delicate."

Soul smiled a bit. "That's okay, Emma. A few good nights rests are better then what I've been living on."

Emma's big eyes brightened. "I'm glad to hear that. Good night, Soul."

Emma lifted off the post and floated in the air just above Soul. The young woman stared back into those red eyes. She could almost feel something poking her mind, and her body quickly started feeling heavy. Her eyelids fluttered closed, her last waking thought being, _huh. Wouldn't it be nice if it was always this easy...?_

/

Soul didn't wake up until late afternoon. The sun had already made significant progress across the side when she sat up in bed and looked around. She stretched and let out a sigh of content; she hadn't felt so well-rested in a long time! Her muscles felt relaxed and prepared for the new day. Glancing down at her belt, she realized that her Pokeballs weren't there.

Looking out the window, Soul realized why. Near the entrance of the town, she could see Lucian sparring with what must be the Geodude, while Emma flew overhead.

Soul got up and slipped her feet into her shoes. _Lucian must have decided to train our newest friend while I slept, _she thought with a surge of warmth towards the little fireball. _I'm lucky I chose him. _

Grabbing the Pokedex off the side table and her bag off the floor, Soul darted down the stairwell, paid the secretary and hurried out the door. The sun soaked her face with warmth, and Soul was flooded with a sense of purpose.

Running down the path, she got a better look at the Geodude. She now looked significantly different from a rock now, thanks to her arms, but she still had a rocky and rugged look that made her look rather unapproachable. Lucian was looking a bit stronger himself, but he'd obviously been focusing on training everyone else.

"Soul!" Emma chirped when her trainer slowed to a stop in front of her.

"You're awake!" Lucian said happily, turning and padding over to her. "I hope you don't mind, but I took it upon myself to train Jade when you didn't wake with the sun. You looked very peaceful."

Soul smiled, knelt down and petted him. "Thank you Lucian. That's thoughtful of you." Turning her attention towards the Geodude, she said, "Your name is Jade?"

The Geodude grunted. "That's m'name, lady. Take it or leave it."

Soul blinked, _that Geodude almost sounds...southern. _There was a pang in her stomach as she remembered her home, which she had managed not to think about for a long time.

"It's a nice name," She said. "Everyone ready to move on? Great! Let's head onwards...towards Violet City!" When all three Pokemon nodded, she turned on her heel and full-on sprinted down the beaten path she had tread just yesterday.

Soul had been a bit nervous about this road because they would be her first string of non-Silver-related (she had tried very hard not to think about him) trainer battles, and her first battle had reminded her how different it was to be giving orders from this angle.

Youngster Joey and his Rattata were easy wins for Jade, who scolded Soul for her uncertainty – Jade had a much more spunky and rough personality then either Emma or Lucian. Jade had gotten a few levels, but she didn't have any rock moves yet, and Soul couldn't remember when she got any. She had never really used Geodude because she had no one to trade with and was barred from its final evolution, meaning it would fall too far behind later in the games.

Emma was proficient at abusing Hypnosis. Soul couldn't express how happy she was that the move was available this early, and kicked herself so many times mentally for never taking the Hoothoot line into consideration prior to this. Emma was the one who captured their fourth teammate, Don Ramon.

That marked the second time Soul had been set upon by a Rattata. The Pokemon had been sick and hungry, so the sight of Soul eating a sandwich had been too much to pass up, despite the fact she was clearly a trainer. He miscalculated his jump and bit into Soul's wrist. Soul's shriek of pain alerted her Pokemon, but Lucian hesitated to attack when the opponent was so close to his trainer. Emma had swooped in and used Hypnosis, causing the offending Rattata to drop off Soul's wrist.

Given that they had just entered the new Route, Soul had caught him over Lucian's protests. One bandage and roll of bread later, Don Ramon was apologizing over and over while Soul waved it off and Lucian stalked him suspiciously.

Then they finally reached Violet City.

/

"Really, you should go to Sprout Tower first! Then you'll be sure you can check out the gym."

"But I've already levelled my Pokemon!" Soul said, frustrated, but the gym trainer refused to budge.

Soul left in a huff, scowling over her shoulder as she turned around and started pacing, wondering what her next course of action should be.

She stared down the path that eventually lead to Azeala Town, and regarded it thoughtfully.

"Why don't you want to go to Sprout Tower, Soul?" Don Ramon asked in the nervous whisper he always spoke in despite the fact that the team often had trouble hearing what he was saying.

"Because it's tedious," Soul griped. "It won't even be anything of note because Lucian just learned Ember. Either way, it's a moot point because I can't train the Pokemon I would be using for gym! AGH! Who makes these rules?"

Don cautiously brushed against her shoe. "Um...Soul? If you don't mind...maybe you should try catching something? It – it might make you feel better."

Soul blinked and looked down at the diminutive purple rat. Taking a deep breath, she nodded and said, "That's a good idea, Don. Hey, Emma, Lucian! Let's go catch something."

She walked down the pathway away from the gym. She couldn't go too far without Falkner's badge, but that wasn't a problem. Hopefully, she'd be able to find something that could help her in the long run instead of something -

"Ugh." She scowled. Directly in front of her, she saw a bunch of Ekans. "Joy. I hate poison types..."

Soul's sentence trailed away without her realizing it. Something thick and rough hit her nose, balling up in her throat. A shudder went down her spine. A snap and a crackle made her realize that the Ekans weren't milling around...they were attacking something...

Soul took a few steps forward...and she saw something...a bloody mass of pink fur.

It was a Flaffy. It had been poisoned and viciously gored, blood soaking its once white fleece. One of its small arms was hanging limply, and its back was against the tree. It had been fighting for quite a while, but the three snakes had ganged up on it.

It was weak and helpless looking, but the Ekans wouldn't let it be. One of the purple coiled creatures lunged forward and bit onto the Flaffy's neck, causing the poor creature to unleash a wail of pain that made Don Ramon's fur fluff up.

Soul felt like she was going to be sick...the idea that Pokemon ate each other wasn't something she had even contemplated. But that's clearly what these Pokemon were after...the blood was everywhere...that Flaffy didn't stand a chance now...

She wanted to look away, bolt back to the city, wait until nature's nastier side had gone away. But something caught her eye in that moment that would burn itself into her memory for days to come.

One of the Ekans tried to worm its way past Flaffy, snapping at something in the crevice. The Flaffy roared and unleashed a static shock, forcing its opponent away.

Soul saw a small white sphere inside. "They're trying to eat the egg."

The words left her, remote with shock, and seemed to be coming from very far away. But the Flaffy's desperate cries following it burst in her ears as though she had sat down next to a rock concert sound system. The pink Pokemon collapsed. Delighted, the Ekans headed for the egg.

Then something hot, something primal exploded in Soul's chest. "DON! DON'T LET THEM TOUCH IT!"

She flung Lucian and Emma's Pokeballs at the startled Ekans, hot on the heels of Don Ramon who flung himself at the one approaching the egg. Brave Don sank his teeth into the lead Ekans when Lucian and Emma appeared in the blast of light.

Lucian, to his eternal credit, only needed to look between the Ekans, the cove and the bloody Flaffy to understand. He blew out the hottest ember Soul had seen him give so far, and Emma followed up right behind him. While her Pokemon drove the poison types off, Soul stumbled over tot he Flaffy.

It was a girl, Soul realized as she got near. The blood was everywhere, seeping into the ground. The scent of it was strong. The Flaffy let out a weak moan and tried to shift; abruptly Soul's knees turned to water causing her to collapse next to the pink Pokemon. Soul tried to dig through her bag, but her hands were shaking so badly that she struggled to hold onto the Potion she dug up.

Lucian was spitting embers and curses at the retreating Ekans. Soul only vaguely registered that only one of the Ekans was retreating. She was busy trying to spray the bloody Flaffy with a healing potion.

But...it wasn't registering. The wounds weren't healing. Soul realized she was shaking at the shoulders. _Oh please, oh please, oh please... _"D-Don? R-Run back to the Pokecenter!" She said in wavering voice.

_...It's too late..._Something inside her head whispered.

Soul was shaking her head without realizing it. _No, no, no, no... _She couldn't say it out loud, her throat was too tight to speak. The Flaffy looked up at her and nudged her right hand, which had fallen limply onto her lap.

"Y-Yes?" She whispered. Lucian and Emma were running back, Don having frozen in his place staring at the Flaffy.

The Flaffy let out a weak bleat, pointing her nose towards the crevice. Soul's head whipped around to see the egg still in the hole.

"O-Oh! Right...of course..." Soul immediately scrambled for the hole. Her hands slipped on the surface of the egg, but something in her stomach loosened when she found the surface undamaged. Carefully, she scooped it up in both arms and turned back to face the Flaffy. "It's right here...it's safe..."

The Flaffy looked relieved...and sort of wistful. Weakly, it nudged her hand again, like...she was telling Soul to keep it...

Then the Flaffy's head dropped. Soul gave a tiny gasp when she realized the pink Pokemon had stopped breathing

The world seemed to tilt and blur before her eyes. A hot tear dripped down her face, followed by a choked sob. "I'm sorry..." Soul sobbed, even though she knew that the Flaffy was somewhere where she couldn't hear her. "I'm so sorry..."

Hugging the egg against her chest, Soul began to sob and weep like she never had before.

**End Chapter**

**I admit, I was genuinely surprised that I didn't derp and cause the death of one of my Pokemon friends before I got to Falkner's gym. I guess I was paranoid, and my decision to get the Mareep egg was mostly out of concern that I wouldn't be able to find an electric type at all after this. Working the egg into the story plus my desire to show the consequences of Nuzlocke as soon as possible resulted in Dead Flaffy Mother. **

**If the trail between Cherrygrove and Violet seems condensed, there was a reason for that - this story, because it follows the game, is going to be very, very long, and I didn't want to dither too much before getting to the real kickstart, ie the first gym.**

**Finally, a look at my catches:**

**Emma the Hoothoot. Gentle Nature, Route 29 catch, sturdy body.**

**Jade the Geodude. Sassy Nature, Route 46 catch, highly persistent.**

**Ron Ramon the Rattata. Timid Nature, Route 30 catch, loves to eat.**

**Read and Review please!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Moonlight and Fire, a SoulSilver Storylocke**

_**Wanda: Whew! Sprout Tower down, first gym down, and this adventure has truly begun! I've done my best to match my Pokemon's personalities with their natures, so the new edition should be interesting to write. Either way, Silver's in this chapter! And boy, I can't wait until I can write more extended scenes with him. Anyhow, I don't own Pokemon, and here's the next chapter!**_

**Chapter 3: The Tower and the Gym**

Soul sat with her back against the tree for a long time. Her hands were caked with mud and her arms stung where she'd slammed against sharp twigs, but she didn't notice. There was blood on her knees and the helm of her jeans, dry and caked; she'd torn a hole in the side of her left shoe when diving for the Flaffy as well. Her wrists were sore. All in all, she was in pretty dirty, and any trainer passing by just saw her, stared in alarm and then proceeded onward.

Her head was bowed, the first death she had ever experienced having brought the sky down on her. It was as if something inside her had fallen, fallen away, leaving her forever. There was a hole in her chest that was only being preserved by the egg she was still clutching.

She'd heard Lucian, Emma and Don Ramon quietly discuss what to do with the dead Flaffy. She had pretty much shut down after the Flaffy had stopped breathing. Emma had gently lead Lucian away after her anxious starter tried to rouse her for the third time.

She wasn't sure what the consensus they reached, but eventually Emma retrieved Jade's Pokeball from her. They summoned the ornery rock type, who's snippy comments died when she saw the body, and together they moved it further into the trees.

_That Flaffy had Nuzlocke, _Soul eventually decided when the silence of her mind finally broke. _I guess if trainer's Pokemon can have it, that doesn't mean they can't pass it on to wild ones. Or maybe it ran away. Whatever the reason, thanks to that poison she died. Those Ekans must have realized it...that's got to be the reason they went after a second stage electric type. Nothing else makes sense; there's no way that Flaffy are part of that line's natural diet. _

_I've never seen anything die. I mean, there were movies, but that doesn't count for jack. And that wasn't just any Flaffy...it was a mother...how many Pokemon are infected with Nuzlocke? Is it all of them? _

_What am I doing out here? I've never beaten a game without a Pokemon fainting once, and those were games! This is real life! If I'm stupid, if I'm not careful, that corpse could be Don or Emma...or Lucian..._

Soul swallowed hard; the urge to throw up was becoming overpowering. A horrible taste had built up in her throat and her stomach was churning worse then the time she had taken a plane to New York.

Squeezing her eyes shut, she tried to make herself as small as possible.

_Look at me. No wonder Silver said I couldn't handle it. Who am I to say he isn't right? I have no idea what I'm getting into!_

_If I had been here a minute earlier..._

_I..._

_My hands are warm._

Blinking rapidly to readjusted her eyes, Soul looked down at the egg propped up against her chest. Cracks were appearing in the shell, and from inside...was a glowing yellow light.

_The egg...it's hatching already? _

Another flash, and the top of the shell cracked open wide. The light grew stronger, and Soul's Pokedex made the chiming noise that signified the registration of a new Pokemon.

Soul yelped and shut her eyes as the egg split apart in her hands.

Soul saw stars and white spots for a moment, cringing as sharp needles of pain pierced her head. She couldn't hear anything for a moment, but she felt something warm and fuzzy in her hands. Little jolts went down her wrists, loosing her tightly wound muscles. Soul felt dizzy from the assault on her nerves; she'd gone through too many emotions today.

Slowly, she opened her eyes again.

The egg had hatched, and a baby Mareep was sitting in her lap.

Itss fleece was crackling lightly with electricity, it sent tiny thrills up her arm but it wasn't strong enough to hurt her yet. Its tail was short and fluffy like the rest of its body, and the ball on the end was sweeping back and forth by her feet as the baby stirred. It had four short blue legs.

The tiny Pokemon yawned big enough to make its whole body shake, and started poking her with its nose. Slowly, its eyes opened, and Soul found herself facing two wide blue spheres of pure innocence and love.

"Mommy?" The Mareep murmured. It had the voice of a very young boy.

Soul let out a soft gasp. She thought about saying something – anything, really, maybe even say that his mother had left – but the words got lost on the way to her throat.

His nose poked her hands a few more times, before the Mareep nuzzled his head under her right hand and leaned against her stomach.

"Mommy." He decided happily.

Soul stared down at the Mareep for a moment that seemed to go on forever. A crack of thunder roared overhead, and as the first drops of rain fell Soul's eyes blurred and then overflowed with tears for the second time.

/

"Soul, it's pouring rain, we should go inside." Emma said insistently, doing her best to cover for Lucian as she, Don Ramon and Jade rushed back towards their trainer. Lucian had decided they should bury the Flaffy, and he and Don had dug the grave personally. It had taken more time then he had initially expected, but the Cydnaquil had refused to abandon his task even as the skies darkened. With some help from jade, they eventually finished the grave, the Geodude patting down the soil while Emma stuck a branch in the ground to signify its importance. It was around that point when the rain began to fall, sending the group sprinting back to their trainer.

They came to a halt under the relative canopy of the tree when they saw their trainer crying again, but this time holding something other then the egg they had left with her.

Soul looked up from the Mareep in her arms and looked them with a sort of tearful happiness before registering the fact they were soaking. She shook her head to brush away her stupor and her tear-stained eyes widened.

"Oh, geez...I'm sorry guys – of course, with it raining Lucian and Jade won't like it...I guess I lost track of everything." The second part was mostly directed at herself, a scolding for disconnecting from reality the way she had.

Leaning against the tree, she pushed herself into a standing position without disturbing their newest companion. Trying to decide what to do, she looked back in the direction of Sprout Tower and pointed towards it. "Can you guys run to Sprout Tower?"

Lucian shot a look back towards Violet. Sprout Tower loomed against the darkened skies, swaying slightly in the wind. "It should be within my abilities, if we run." He said.

"Jade?" Soul asked in concern, looking over at the rock type.

"Don' mind me, m'dear. I've taken worse beatings then this sprinkle and lived to tell the tale," The gruff Geodude answered.

"Good. Let's go, everyone," Soul said, her voice having become remarkably steady. Turning back towards Violet, she took off as quickly as her burden would allow her, her Pokemon at her heels.

The rain picked up as Soul and her team splashed across the town, and the wind had begun to howl when Soul nudged the door open and hurried inside. Sprout Tower was technically only three floors tall, but it was spacious due to its swaying pillar. In the event of earthquakes, all the inhabitants of Violet City would run into the tower and hunker down until the shockwaves eventually faded away.

The monks there were nice, but they exclusively used Bellsprout, so they ended up serving as a yardstick as to which of the up and coming trainers should take on the gym challenge and who should stick to breeding. The monk at the top gave out Flash, which had mercifully been downgraded to TM status after a steady stream of complaints from trainers of it uselessness, and gave the go for that trainer to challenge Falkner.

Inside the door, Soul sat down against the wall close to the ladder. Despite her best efforts, the Mareep had been jostled awake during the run to the tower. Soul murmured comfortingly as she petted him on his fleecy head. The Mareep calmed down quickly and pushed his head against the crook of her arm.

Lucian and Don booth shook themselves as dry as their could before padding to their trainer's side, Emma mumbling to herself while shaking the water out of her wings. Jade looked very discomforted though she was doing her best to hide it.

"Soul...is that...?" Don Ramon asked timidly, putting a paw up on her leg to elevate himself enough to get a good look.

"Yeah," Soul nodded, smiling down at the ball of yellow fluff. "I was holding the egg for a while when it started to hatch. This is the baby."

"Mommy," The Mareep purred, nipping at her wrist.

"His name is Marius." Soul added, shifting her grip so that Marius was facing the rest of the team. "Marius, these are my friends. That's Lucian, that's Emma, that's Don Ramon and that's Jade."

Marius looked between the four of them with those wide, innocent eyes, before saying, "Unca Luke!" with an air of enthusiasm. "Unca Ray!"

Lucian padded closer and nudged Marius gently with his head. "Welcome to the world, child."

"Can you say, Auntie Emma?" Emma suggested, fluttering as close to Marius as she deemed necessary. Soul was about to invite her to come closer when she remembered that Emma was weak against electric types.

"AuntEmma!" Marius tried. "Aunt Jade!"

"Close enough," The Hoothoot decided. "Well, you look quite healthy for a newborn in the wild. That's a good sign."

Soul nodded, and looked down at Marius. The Mareep seemed exceptionally happy, looking between all his knew honorary uncles and aunts. Soul smiled down at him, feeling something warm in her chest, when an idea struck her. Digging through her pockets, she came up with a charm bracelet she'd gotten from a friend in grade school before her parents moved her to the big city. She had kept it around mostly for good luck, and while it was big for her wrist...

"Here you go, Marius." She said, sliding it around his neck and clipping it shut. Marius bleated gleefully and headbutted her. Soul laughed.

The rain was pouring down heavily, the wind howling against the door. The rag-tag team of Pokemon and their trainer sat in a circle, listening to the wind howl. Soul had gently set Marius down on the floor, the tiny Mareep squeaking for joy as he put one foot in front of the other and began to walk, then run in circles chasing his tail. Emma supervised and Lucian helped Marius whenever the

"The sky is crying, mommy," Marius said, tilting his head towards the window. "Why's it so sad?"

"Well," Soul said thoughtfully, bouncing her knees slightly. "When the ground gets really dry, plants cant grow. So the plants cry out to the sky, and the sky gives them what they need to live."

Marius tilted his head and said, "Then why does it sound sad?"

Soul's brow furrowed slightly, wondering what the Mareep was hearing that she wasn't. "That's the wind, Marius. It's causing the building to creek."

"Yeesh! Look at it pour out there!" Jade said, having rolled over to the nearest window.

"It looks like we'll be staying here for a while, then." Lucian said. "Perhaps we should make use of our time here?" He pointed at the ladder that lead to the upper floors of Sprout Tower. "I've gone long enough without having access to my fire moves. I request that you train me more Soul."

Soul nodded and stood up, slinging her bag over her shoulder again. She tapped her shoe against the floor to wring out the pins and needles that had set into her foot. "Good idea."

Marius's eyes lit up. He hurried over to her and brushed against her leg. "Mommy, I want to fight too. Can I? Can I?"

"Might dangerous out here for him, isnnt it?" Jade asked cautiously. "If the mother had Nuzlocke, he probably has it too."

"What's a Nuzzle-lock?" Marius asked curiously.

Soul frowned and crossed her arms, thinking. She wanted Marius to stay save, but she couldn't deny that an electric type would be a huge asset later in her journey...also, Marius would learn Signal Beam once he became an Ampharos, which was enormously useful against psychic types and dark types.

A surge of protectiveness rose inside her. She would make sure nothing bad happened to Marius no matter what she did. In the end, she decided to bring him with her, and he could stomp a few poison types on the way to Championship while she figured out what brought her here and why.

The death of the Flaffy had made her think about home again. Maybe it was because the death had been so outside her experiences, but it had made her wonder what was going through her mother's head whenever she had been out walking late at night.

What was her mother thinking now? Had she realized Soul was missing? Had the police department been called, scouring the city for a girl they wouldn't be able to find? Or was this like one of her books, where no time passed in her world while she went on the adventure? These questions had begun to bounce around her skull with increasing violence before Marius had hatched.

But once he'd hatched, the little Mareep had refocused her on the present, and Soul told herself that it was pointless to worry about it now when there was nothing she could do about it. All she could do was keep moving forward, and find answers along the way.

Marius bumped against her leg, causing Soul to realize that she had gotten lost in thought.

"It's a sickness that makes battling a bit more dangerous," She explained to Marius. "But if we do plenty of switch training, you'll be able to gain levels without getting in danger."

"So I fight later?" Marius asked.

Soul knelt down and petted his head. "You'll be a great fighter when you get older," She said. "But first Lucian and I are going to make sure you get nice and strong, okay?"

"Okay!" Marius chirped. Jade didn't look wholly convinced, but she let herself be returned with little trouble. Don looked relieved when he was called back; it had been a stressful day for the timid Rattata. Emma floated overhead, backup for Lucian, while Soul walked over to the ladder. She looked up, reassembling her thought process into her 'game face' and began climbing the ladder.

/

Soul was afraid of heights.

When she had been a little girl, her father had taken her to the park. She wanted to go on the swings after hearing another girl compare it to flying. Her dad agreed to push her, and soon Soul had been swinging through the air. The swing had been a particularly high set one, with long chains that allowed you to go very high. She had pressed for him to go higher and higher, until suddenly she was so high up the chains slackened. She'd been leaning back as far as she could, and gravity pulled her down. She hit the ground with an explosion of pain.

Soul blacked out from the pain, and woke up in the hospital with her arm in a sling. Ever since, Soul had been twitchy around things that took her very high off the ground. Even airplanes made her nervous, and she hated ladders because it gave her that very feeling of being an inch from falling backwards.

It took conscious effort not to look down as Soul pushed herself onto the second floor, Lucian and Emma right behind her. Standing up, Soul surveyed Sprout Tower. It was getting late again, which meant Gastly, but once again she'd have no way of turning it into Gengar. The only other Pokemon here was Rattata, and she already had Don Ramon.

"Marius, Lucian, let's go." She said confidently.

Lucian got Ember after they defeated the first of the Sages. Fire burst out of the spots on his back as he blew flames over the remaining Bellsprout. "Fire at last! I shall become a squire yet," He said with pleasure.

"Yes, you will," Soul grinned. "We're going to burn this entire tower down."

"Yay! Go Uncle Luke!" Marius cheered.

A few of the monks thought the better of challenging her when they saw that she had a Cyndaquil, but a few charged on regardless and met the receiving end of Lucian's Ember attacks. Marius was gaining levels like nobody's business, and he couldn't wait to get Thundershock so he could be just as strong as his honorary uncle. There were a few Rattata on floor, but they slunk out of Soul's way as Lucian and Marius marched alongside their trainer, Emma perched on her shoulder keen eyes searching for any surprise threats.

The rain continued to pound down on the building, the dark clouds making it seem as though the night had come early. Soul wasn't bothered by the dark, and if Lucian was unsettled by it he was giving no sign of it. Another floor up, Soul picked up a few useful items along the way.

Breezing past the last solo-Bellsprout monk, Soul stopped at the foot of the stairs. "Okay guys, there will be three more monks before we can challenge the Head Monk," She explained. "At least one of them will have a Hoothoot. Marius, you're going to hang back now, okay?"

"Yes mommy," Marius responded, looking a bit put out but thankfully not arguing.

"Emma, you jump in if Lucian gets hurt."

"Of course, darling."

Soul nodded, pleased, before grabbing the ladder and hoisting herself up. Getting up off her knees once she reached the top, Soul felt the floor lurch as the wind moved the tower and immediately leaned against the wall.

_C'mon, Soul! Don't let it rattle your nerves when you're so close to the end. Consider this practice for Falkner's gym. _She cringed internally when she remembered the rising platform. Looking around the room, Soul caught sight of a flash of red hair and her breath caught in her throat.

_Silver is here. _

Soul's shoulders tensed. She couldn't see much past the large swaying pillar, but she was pretty sure she had just seen Silver. Should she bolt past the monks and confront him immediately? Try and sneak up? Would it even matter what she did?

"Soul?" Lucian asked, concerned at her sudden stop.

"...He's here." Soul whispered. Lucian stood stiff with understanding.

"Let us be cautious." He said quietly. "We don't know how much stronger he's become."

Soul nodded, and pointed at the nearest monk. Lucian nodded and took on a fighting stance. The monk looked surprised by her refusal to talk, but he sent out his Pokemon with minimum fuss. Lucian wasted the Bellsprout in less then a second, but the Hoothoot proved to be tougher, putting the fire Pokemon to sleep twice before it was finally defeated when Emma pecked it viciously twice. The last monk only had a Bellsprout, so Lucian finished it leaving Soul to cautiously approach the final area.

"...You have shown us what you have, an it is indeed good," The master monk was talking. Soul stepped out from behind the pillar. Sure enough, Silver was standing with his back to her, one hand on his hip. In the light of the candles, his clothes seemed darker then they should be. He didn't have Victor out, so Soul didn't know if he had evolved the stolen 'mon yet.

"Take this TM in recognition of that." The Elder continued.

Silver took the Flash TM without a word, and moved to leave when the Elder spoke again.

"However, you should be gentler with your Pokemon. The way you train them can be too harsh. Pokemon are not tools for war..."

Silver's grey eyes flashed in the darkness. His hand tightened on the disk to the point where Soul wouldn't have been surprised if it had cut his skin. The young man looked like he was on the edge of a withering retort when he caught sight of her. Soul tensed, expecting a battle, but Silver made no move for the Pokeball in his pocket. He looked at her for a minute before putting his hood up.

Silver walked towards one of the open windows and scoffed.

"...He calls himself and Elder, and yet he was so weak. Being to harsh...me, loose to someone who lives in that fantasy? The only thing I care about are strong Pokemon. Who can win, and keep winning."

Soul took a deep breath to control her emotions and said, "No one wins every battle, Silver. Not without help."

Silver wound the end of a long brown rope around his arm, but his eyes were on her. "How did you know my name?"

"There are a lot of things I know," Soul responded with a calmness that didn't match the uncertainty burning in her gut. "Why steal, Silver?"

Silver snorted slightly. "That's none of your concern."

"They told me to go after you," Soul said. "The last time we fought, Victor said he intended to go with you. Why would he, if you stole him?"

Silver's grey eyes flashed like the lightning outside the building. "This world is full of cowards and lowlives." He snarled. "He went with me because he knew I could do things that the Professor and his trainers were all to terrified to do. No matter where I go, it's all the same."

He stepped out the window and onto the small roof, glaring back at her and Lucian. "You won last time because he was weak," He snapped. "It isn't like that any more. Consider this a warning – stay out of my way. Because next time, I'll crush you."

With those words, Silver disappeared into the darkness and the storm. Lucian jumped up on the windowsill, but only watched for a moment before shaking his head and rejoining his trainer.

A sigh and a cough caught Soul's attention; the Elder had come forward from the candlesticks and was shaking his head in sadness.

"That is a very unhappy young man."

Soul's shoulders relaxed. "You think so too?"

The Elder nodded. "When you have lived as long as I have, child, you know that rage that strong always has a source. You could sense it, could you not?"

"I...well," Soul ran her fingers through her hair, feeling very self-conscious. "The first time I saw him, there was a moment when I thought his eyes seemed sad. I wasn't sure, though, since my Pokemon hadn't caught the moment."

The Elder nodded approvingly. "Astute observation, child. I suspected he may have been the thief mentioned on a recent police report, but even if I had known we would not have been able to keep him here."

Soul shivered.

"I gave him the TM because I see the beginnings of a great trainer...and a well of grief, as well." The Elder continued. "It runs deep inside him."

"Grief?" Soul echoed, wondering what on any region Silver would be sad about.

"Aye," The Elder said grimly. "But now, his rage outweighs everything else. I tried warned him now, that such rage is self-destructive, but he refused to hear my words when I lost to him."

Soul locked her fingers together. Silver's cold gaze was fresh in her mind, but now she felt more then fear or apprehension..._what's driving you, Silver? What do you want?_

"You're here to be approved for the gym challenge?" The Elder asked.

Soul blinked and nodded, letting Emma and Don Ramon out of their Pokeballs.

"I have one question, before we begin." The Elder said. "What do you hope to get out of the gym challenge? The grandeur of becoming Champion?"

Soul shook her head. "No. I need answers..." She thought about explaining her situation, but discarded it quickly; being considered crazy wouldn't get her anywhere. "Something happened to me I don't understand. I think the only way I can get the answers I need is if I can travel the whole region and become a good trainer."

The Elder regarded her thoughtfully. "...Good answer. I thought there was something different about you when you entered the tower. There's something in your eyes...I think you will be a good trainer, given time. For now, show me your battle skills!"

Soul pointed at the Bellsprout that appeared in a flash of light. "Lucian? Go for it."

Lucian jumped forward and let out an Ember, blasting the Bellsprout away in one quick move. The Elder clicked his tongue, having clearly expected this, before he brought out his next Pokemon – a Hoothoot.

"Don? You're up," Soul said. The Rattata jumped and stared at his trainer for a moment before realizing that she meant it. Nervously, he ran up front and faced down the bird type. The Hoothoot went for hypnosis but missed, allowing Don Ramon to get the first strike.

The tackle did more damage then Soul had initially expected it too. Don squeaked and bolted backwards when the Hoothoot recovered and pecked him, causing some blood to spill on the floor. Soul's stomach lurched, her mind flashing back to Marius's mother, but with some effort she kept her attention on the battle.

Don tackled again, but this time when the Hoothoot used hypnosis it hit its mark. Don Ramon lay down and went to sleep. _Damn it! _Soul thought, quickly digging around for the potion she knew she'd need. _Pokemarts don't sell awakenings yet, so I have to wait until Don wakes up! Augh, I've enjoyed Emma's hynposis so much I forgot how annoying it was to be on the receiving end of it. _

"Wake up, Don!" She yelled, spraying him with a potion as the Hoothoot flew around for another pass. Thankfully, her voice seemed to jostle Don out of his stupor, and he returned to the fight with vigour. He met the bird head on with a powerful tackle, and the Hoothoot was down for the count.

"You did it, Don!" Soul cheered. She'd felt a little bad for sidelining him in training, and with Marius still too young to use Thundershock she thought he'd be a good choice to fight the Hoothoot.

"I...I did it!" Don gasped, sounding more surprised then anyone.

"Good work, Don Ramon!" Lucian said encouragingly. Don looked a bit overwhelmed by the praise, and he walked back to Soul and Lucian with his tail held high.

"You did well, child." The Elder said, sounding pleased. "Even with threats like Nuzlocke in the world, the world needs people who are willing to take risks to make things better." He handed her the Flash TM. "I believe you will find the answers you're looking for if you make it all the way to the Elite Four."

Soul smiled and bowed, hands clasped in front of her. "Thank you so much, sir." Turning away, she hurried back towards the stairwell. It was time to challenge the gym.

When leaving the gym, Soul didn't notice she was being watched. In the aftermath of the storm, a black foxlike creature with yellow rings watched as the young woman splashed her way towards the Pokemon centre, turning around to chat with the Cyndaquil at her heels. It was an Umbreon, and it turned and vanished into the bushes.

/

"Look mom! Look mom! I can do lighting!" Marius cheered, his fur lighting up with electricity. The offending Rattata hardly had time to squeak in terror before it was hit with a small bolt of lightning, knocking it out with a single blow.

"Yes you can!" Soul laughed, sitting down on a nearby log. Marius pranced over and jumped into her open arms. Sarah fluttered overhead next to Emma, watching the enthusiastic Mareep with palpable fear.

"Do relax, dear," Emma said soothingly, floating down to level with her fellow flying type. Soul had doubled back to Dark Cave upon realizing that she had gone straight past it. She'd been hoping to snag a Teddiursa, but stumbled across Sarah instead.

Zubat were not known for surviving long in the Nuzlocke-ridden region, so Sarah had been terrified when Soul caught her. Pitying the Pokemon she'd initially considered box fodder, Soul put Sarah in the party and started doing a little more training for Marius.

"Marius is excitable, but he won't hurt you." Emma said soothingly. "He's too good-hearted."

Sarah shivered, "Oh, I hope so." Sarah was scared of almost everything she faced outside of her cave thanks to the nebulous fates of a lot of her kind.

"Okay guys, this is how we're going to do this," Soul said, addressing all of her Pokemon. "Falkner's gym is a flying-type all around. The pokemon aren't even that strong. So Jade, you're leading the charge."

"Thank you kindly, Soul." Jade said, relaxed.

"Marius, you're going to fight some of the gym trainer's Pokemon and Falkner's first Pokemon," Soul said, switching her attention to the youngest in the crew. "But you leave the Pigeotto to Jade, okay? Lucian, you're backup if anything goes wrong, okay?"

"Understood." Lucian responded.

"Is everyone ready?" Soul asked. When her Pokemon collectively snorted in assent, she declared, "Alright! We're going to heal up, and then we'll hit the gym!"

/

"Yo! Champ in the making!" The doorman said bombastically when Soul, Jade and Marius stepped into the gym. "I may not be a trainer, but I can give you good advice! Let's go to the League together. Falkner here is a master of flying types. They don't do so well against electric types and rock types!" He beamed at Marius. "And it looks like your set for that! Good luck!"

"T-T-Thanks," Soul stammered out, staring up at the suspended arena floors heart hammering in her chest.

Marius frowned and looked up at her. "What's wrong mom?"

"Uh..." Soul swallowed hard, realizing her legs were shaking.

"Mom," Marius said, worried. He bumped against her leg. "Mom, you're shaking."

Soul squeezed her hands tightly to stop the trembling in her hands. "S-sorry Marius." She mumbled. "I-I just don't do well with heights. That...that's kind of high up. Does it have guardrails? It doesn't look like it has guard rails."

"Oh, that?" The doorman said. "Don't worry. There are safety precautions so that if a trainer does fall, a pair of Pigeot will swoop in and keep you from hitting the floor."

"Oh." Soul's mouth was bone dry. "Yeah. That's lovely. Perfect. That makes me feel much better." She took a single step towards the rising platform and shuddered. "Urf."

Jade sighed impatiently and gave Soul a mighty push. Yelping, Soul stumbled onto the platform, Marius and Jade right behind her. The girl screamed when the platform suddenly rocketed into the air, slamming into place on the overhanging arena.

Soul shrieked, clutching the floorboards for dear life. She really wanted to curse out Jade for putting her in this position without warning, but her jaw was stuck. Her heart was pounding so quickly it was a wonder it didn't burst.

At the other end of the arena, Falkner frowned. When he heard the scream, he'd thought the newest challenger had fallen and moved to hit the alarm; however, the platform had come up without problems. However, the girl was still on her knees with her arms wrapped around her waist without moving.

"Are you alright?" He yelled.

The young woman jerked her head up and fixed him with a half hysterical, half furious look. "Are you kidding me?! Is there a reason we can't have the battles on the damn FLOOR?"

Falkner gave a nervous chuckle. "Arcophobic?" He guessed. "I promise, you're perfectly safe! It's simply meant to emulate the joy of flight!"

"Joy, my neck!" The young woman sputtered, pushing herself to her feet. Her shoulders were shaking pretty badly. "Jade, I swear I'm boxing you for that!"

The Geodude made a non – committal grunt before approaching the first of his trainers. Wait. A Geodude?

Falkner looked between his newest challenger's Pokemon and groaned. A Geodude and a Mareep. This was going to be embarrassing.

"Mom, why are you scared?" Marius asked, worried, as Jade threw rocks at the Spearow, knocking it out in one clean hit.

"B-B-Bad experience, Marius," Soul stammered. "L-Let's just finish this quickly, o-okay?"

"Okay, mommy!" Marius said, going into a battle pose. Seeing his mother so obviously scared made him upset. He wasn't sure why she was scared; she had trained him very hard! Maybe she thought that somebody as young as him wouldn't be able to do much.

Marius pawed the ground and stared down the Pidgey that the second trainer had thrown at him. Well, he'd make her feel better! His fur lit up with electricity, and he fired a thundershock at the unsuspecting Pokemon. It was promptly blown against the wall and passed out.

Soul petted him on the head in a vain attempt to settle her nerves. Slowly, she walked one foot in front of the other towards Falkner's platform. Towards her first badge. That thought was the only thing that allowed her to swallow over the massive ball in her throat.

Falkner hopped from from the beam he had been resting against. The young woman was very pale, but she looked quite determined too. "See?" He said in a friendly, calming voice. "That wasn't so bad."

"E-easy for you to say," The young woman retorted. The Mareep scuttled out in front of her and dropped into an aggressive stance. She cleared her throat, one hand pressed against her chest, and declared, "I, Soul and my band of Pokemon, challenge you for the Zepher badge!"

"So your name's Soul!" Falkner said, picking his first Pokemon. With luck, it would be able to bowl over that Mareep before it could do too much damage. "As the gym leader of Violet City, I accept your challenge! Let the match begin!"

He threw the Pokeball in the air, Pidgey appearing in a flash of light.

"Don't let it attack, Swoop! Sand Attack!" Falkner commanded instantly.

"O-Okay. Marius, Thundershock!" Soul declared, pointing at the bird. Marius's cone-shaped ears immediately lit up. Swoop unleashed grunge from his claws and flapped his wings to blow it in the Mareep's direction.

Marius squeezed his eyes determinedly, and as Swoop flew forward to get off an attack, it saw through the temporary cloud three glowing balls of light. Charging the lighting through his tail and ears, Marius let out a battle cry and unleashed Thundershock, knocking Swoop out instantly.

Falkner cringed internally. His first Pokemon blown away in one hit? His reputation wasn't going to be in good shape after this battle. "Swoon, return! Keen, you're up!"

"C-Come back, Marius," Soul said, sounding a bit more confident thanks to her Pokemon's success. "You did well. Go, Jade!"

The rocky Pokemon appeared. "Still angry at me, girl?" She asked impetuously.

"YES!" Soul shrieked. "Rock Throw!" Jade muttered something about twitchy humans and how they were scared of the silliest things as Keen hurtled towards her.

Jade merely closed her eyes and braced herself. Keen smashed into her, throwing her against a pillar. There was a crack as one of Jade's arms fractured, spilling a bunch of rocks all over the floor.

Jade smirked, and swept up the rocks in her other hand. "Bad movie, birdie." She informed the bird Pokemon. Then, she flung the rocks at Falkner's last Pokemon. Keen dropped straight to the floor, knocked straight out.

Bells rang and a bright green VICTORY TO THE CHALLENGER sign came to life not far above the badge insignia. Soul let out her breath and called Jade back into her Pokeball.

Falkner groaned. "You knocked out both of my Pokemon in one hit? I think that's the most embarrassing performance I've given since I became a Gym leader!"

"Oh," Soul responded. She tapped her forefingers together. "I'm sorry...it's just..."

"You didn't want to risk anything?" Falkner guessed. Soul nodded. "I get that. That was just my pride talking...I'm holding this gym post in honour of my father, so I feel compelled to win as often as I can."

He walked across the arena floor and stopped in front of Soul. "You've got a good understanding of type advantages, Soul. However, I recommend you look into other strategies along the road – advantages only take you so far. Hold our your hand."

Soul tentatively raised her palm; Falkner dropped a medium sized, intricately cut badge into her hand. "This is the Zephr badge. With it, all Pokemon up to level twenty no matter how they come into your care, will obey you without question. It should also allow you to travel freely between here and Azeala Town."

He paused and then added, "As a Gym Leader, I feel compelled to warn you – the epidemic of Nuzlocke is everywhere. Don't overestimate yourself or your Pokemon."

Soul nodded. "Y-Yes sir."

The Flying-type specialist noted that despite her victory, she was still extremely pale.

Falkner eyed her for a moment. "I can walk you to the entrance if that would make you more comfortable."

Soul practically melted in relief. "Thank you, thank you, thank you."

/

Soul scrambled out of the gym and stared up at the sky. _It's over! It's OVER! Thank god. _Taking a few deep breaths she looked down at her closed hand. Opening her sweat-soaked palm, her very first gym badge glinted in the late evening light. Soul caught her breath, staring down at it.

"We did it guys." She said. "Our first badge...we're a step closer to our goal."

It was at this point that her Pokegear started ringing. Blinking, Soul dug through the key items compartment and pulled the small red phone. Clicking it open, Soul read the caller ID. It was Professor Elm!

"Ah, Soul! How are things going?" The Professor asked.

"It's going pretty well, Professor." Soul answered. "We just beat Falkner and earned our first badge!"

"Really? That's wonderful!" The Professor said. "You're doing wonderful, Soul. I'm wondering – would you mind doing me a big favour? I'd like you to take care of that egg Mr. Pokemon had you deliver! My assistant should be at the Pokemon Centre, so you can pick it up!"

Soul murmured her assent and closed her phone, walking towards the Pokemart. As she walked, the sunset stained the sky red, a cry and a warning that went unheard.

**End Chapter **

_**Falkner's gym...ended up being a lot easier then I had expected it to be. But I had grinded both Jade and Marius to level 10 before going in, so maybe I overestimated how annoying that Pigeotto could be. Anyway, Jade pushing Soul and the resulting blowup are my reasons for boxing Jade - once she evolves into Graveller, she'd loose her stride too quickly for me to keep her in a Nuzlocke challenge. And welcome Marius! He has Static, which is an ability I love because it's pulled me out of the fire in normal runs.**_

_**Also - backtracking to Dark Cave gives me a new Pokemon. Sarah the Zubat. Gentle Nature, often lost in thought.**_


	5. Chapter 5

**Moonlight and Fire, a SoulSilver Storylocke**

**_Wanda: Ack. Sorry I'm late, but I was having some trouble with the site so I couldn't update. So here's the latest chapter in the SoulSilver Nuzlocke, in which Soul realizes that it isn't just the gym leaders who have dangerous Pokemon. I do not own Pokemon._  
**

**Chapter 4: First Blood**

Soul entered the Pokemart and felt an odd tugging sensation in her chest. She wondered if it was aftermath from the raised platforms of Violet Gym, but it felt more mysterious then nervous anticipation. She dismissed the strangeness of it, focusing on picking up the Togepi egg.

"Soul?" She walked over to one of the tables. The assistant from the lab was sitting there, probably having arrived while she was battling the gym.

"That's me," She said, walking over to him. The assistant smiled when he saw Falkner's badge attached to her bag. He looked rather like someone who was seeing his champion for the first time. Once again, Soul thought about Elm asking her to do something about the Nuzlocke epidemic. Was this what she was becoming to these people?

Soul brushed the thought away and prompted, "Professor Elm said he wanted me to carry an egg."

"Yes! Mr. Pokemon called him not to long ago," The assistant said, "I'm not sure exactly what they were talking about, but then Professor Elm cried, 'I can't think of anyone better suited to it then Soul!' So here we are."

Reaching into his bag, the assistant pulled out a familiar red and blue dotted egg. Soul took it and ran her hand over the surface. She could feel a little warmth beating under the shell, a little like Marius's egg before it hatched. _So it shouldn't be too long before it hatches, _she figured.

"Thanks, sir." She said. "I'll take care of it." Opening her bag, Soul carefully slipped the egg into the largest pocket.

The lack of items in it reminded her of her other reasons to entering the Pokemart. She hurried over to the cashier and said, "Ten Pokeballs, five potions and an Antidote, please!"

The last thing she wanted was to get blindsided by poison in the middle of an intense battle. Thankfully, beating Falkner had given her a steady pay that should hold out until she reached Azeala Town. And with Lucian getting close to evolving, Bugsy should pose no threat to her team.

Soul stepped out of the Pokemart, feeling as though this journey would be easier then she had figured before. Then, the tugging feeling in her stomach came back.

Not far away from the store, a young woman was standing there as though she'd been waiting for her to step outside the door. She was wearing a colourful outfit that made Soul think of ancient China or Japan. There were bells hanging from her hair, and her skin was quite pale – probably thanks to makeup and such.

_Isn't that...? Oh, right. The Kimono Girls. _Soul thought. _Elm mentioned them back when I got Lucian... why's she just standing there, waiting for me? This is creepy..._

Her eyes widened slightly when Soul stepped outside the door. Immediately, she walked up to her and stopped, looking into her bag. Soul hadn't zipped it up the entire way, so the Togepi egg was still pretty prominently displayed.

"Oh...that egg..." The Kimono girl murmured, before looking back at Soul's face. "We were right then. The selection went through."

"That what now? Who are you?" Soul asked nervously.

The Kimono Girl regarded her with clear blue eyes. They were sharp and clear, but there was...an emptiness to them. Like a pool of water. Soul swallowed.

"So the egg passed from Mr. Pokemon to Professor Elm, and from Professor Elm to you..." The Kimono Girl murmured, speaking more to herself then Soul. "The soul of the ocean has spoken. Your champion is young, but she will reach you soon."

Taking a step backwards, she looked Soul in the eye and said, "That egg is truly an important egg. As are you. Take good care of it...and yourself."

With those words, she disappeared into the city. Soul, now much more unnerved then before, summoned her Pokemon and hurried to leave Violet City.

/

Soul headed out late evening again, stretching contently. The comfortable weight of Falkner's badge against her chest alleviated any remaining stress from being so high in the air. Soul felt partially inclined to dissolve into gleeful joy like she had upon receiving the Pokedex. _I'm a real trainer now. Funny, a few days ago I was lamenting how I felt I could never do anything. Now I'm on the path to Championship and I've gotten my first badge. Maybe I can find something I'm good at after all. _

"Why am I in the first slot, Soul?" Don Ramon asked nervously, poking at the ground as he lead the group consisting of Lucian, Marius, Emma, Sarah and the Togepi egg – Soul had gone through with her threat to box Jade after the Violet Gym incident.

"Because you need training, Don." Soul answered. "Don't worry, most of these trainers will have Pokemon around the same level as Falkner's Pokemon. Since you're at that level, you should be just fine!"

"O-Okay," Don Ramon said nervously. "Whatever you say, Soul." He lead the charge further down the road, the sinking sun being their guide towards the river.

Soul smiled. She could smell the clear water even from further up the ridge. There were two trainers close to Violet, one of whom had a Nidoran Female. Soul wasn't sure if it had the poison point ability, so she told Don to use tackle repeatedly. The opposing trainer was obviously new to this, because her Pokemon didn't do much but growl repeatedly in an attempt to weaken Don. Soul accepted her phone number, gave her some pointers and moved on.

Soul walked on as the sun went down, once again seized by insomnia. Whenever Marius got tired, she would carry him. "You'll make a good mother, Soul." Emma remarked.

Soul blushed. "Stop, Emma." She said, embarrassed. "The idea of kids scare me right now."

"Whatever you say, dear." Emma fluttered overhead. Marius quickly fell asleep. "You're making him very happy, you know. That's called being motherly."

Soul blushed harder and shook her head. "Emma...! I'm just doing what I think is natural. Now I'm even more worried about making mistakes, and I've done a lot of worrying thanks to the gym."

"Dear, I must confess I don't understand why heights frighten you," Emma said wistfully, her small wings flapping harder to elevate her higher above Soul's head. "I long to become a Noctowl, so I can traverse the skies freed from the limitations of these tiny wings! Soul, once you've flown on your own power, being bound to the earth is painful."

Soul looked up at her Hoothoot. "Emma, you're a flying type. I'll help you evolve. But I fell from high up once and it hurt a lot. I'm just...it's a reflex, okay? I'm being cautious!"

Lucian, who had been shielding Don from a wild Zubat, doubled back and sat by Soul's feet. "I understand," He said. "Previous experiences tend to colour your outlook of the world. I can safely say that I will have trouble traversing any forest after nearly loosing my life in a wildfire."

Putting a paw against her leg, he continued, "But the way I see it, you can either run from your fears, or face them."

Soul shuddered. "It's not that easy."

"Of course not," Lucian agreed. "It will take time, and it will not be a pleasant experience. But if you conquer your fears, you will come out a stronger person."

Soul sat down on a rock (first making sure it was an actual rock this time) and nodded. "I guess I have training of my own to do," She said semi-jokingly.

Marius woke up around this point, asking for food. Soul found a pouch of berries in her bag and handed them out as evenly as she could, once again grateful that Pokemarts sold food for trainers as well as medicine and Pokeballs.

The route to Union Cave was longer then Soul had anticipated, and there was a lot of grass. Having already found her 'encounter' for the route, she and her Pokemon spent most of her time fending them off. _I can't wait to invest in repels._

The nocturnal Pokemon were still pretty weak, luckily, and the route didn't have much variation other then the occasional Ekans. And that was plenty. Soul shivered when she saw one slither towards them, pushing Marius behind her leg.

"Mom?" Marius asked, confused.

Soul glanced down at him. "We're being careful, Marius. Those are poison types, so they can make you very sick."

Marius didn't look like he totally bought this. Lucian hadn't really helped in that respect as his first response to the Ekans was to throw himself at it and breath fire down its throat.

"Thanks Lucian. Don? You're up again. I'm hoping to make it to Union Cave before midnight," Soul said decisively. Don Ramon nodded and bounced on his feet, the motely group of Pokemon picking up the pace.

/

The moon was high in the sky when it happened.

The trainer was a young boy with a scarred face and cranky disposition. His only Pokemon was a Nidoran male, not the highest level opponent Soul had seen so far. Don had defeated the female counterpart a bare few hours ago, so when he wanted to fight, Soul had left him. The boy was using the same strategy as the picknicker initially, leering while Don tackled him twice.

Don had spun around, glowing with a confidence he had never possessed before, and made to make the finishing blow. The way his eyes turned from pride to terror when the angry trainer barked out his newest instruction would haunt his teammates for ages to come.

Soul hadn't known which level the Nidoran family learned Double Kick, and while she knew they could learn it she figured it was around level twelve or thirteen. So when the Nidoran jumped onto its hind legs, Soul didn't realize what was about to happen before it was too late.

_CRACK! _The first blow shattered Don Ramon's jaw, flinging the small purple rat against the stone wall. Soul screamed when the Nidoran dashed forward and unleashed its second kick, followed by a second crack so brutal it made the hair on Soul's neck raise.

Lucian reached first. Fire exploded out of his back as he tackled the Nidoran and smashed it against the ground, knocking it out instantly. Her heart pounding, Soul rushed over towards her fallen Rattata.

"Don? Don?!" She dropped to her knees. Her stomach surged; blood was pooling around her little Pokemon's head, which was bent on an awkward angle. Soul put a shaking hand on her Pokemon, her mind going back to the Flaffy.

Her fingers came away sticky with blood. She had tried to find a pulse...but all she found was that Don's neck had been snapped.

Soul's vision blurred, and she brushed her hand against Don's ruined and bloody fur as though trying to rouse him from sleep. "...Don? Please..."

A horrible rank sent began to set in, the same one that had surrounded the Flaffy not long after her death. The smell of death.

"Oh, Don...I'm so sorry..." Soul whispered, her eyes blurring over.

A scream broke the silence; Soul cast a look over her shoulder to see that Marius had tackled the Nidoran's trainer, fur lit up with electricity. Marius wasn't quite old enough to have the electricity to kill a person yet, but that didn't rule out seriously injuring them.

"Marius, don't. You'll get in trouble...C-Come to mom," Looking back at it, Soul wasn't sure how she managed to say anything over the great fist that had formed in her throat. She was pretty sure that Pokemon weren't allowed to attack helpless trainers no matter what they had done, and after loosing Don she couldn't bring herself to risk loosing Marius too.

Marius scuttled over to her side, Lucian's powerful strides giving him a slight edge allowing him to reach his trainer first. "Don?" He asked quietly, nudging his companion with his nose. The rat didn't stir.

"H-He's gone..." Soul mumbled. Saying it out loud caused a feeling of finality to crash over her, and she burst into tears. She didn't have to listen to the world around her to know that the rest of her team was crying with her.

/

In the end, they stopped in the Pokemon Centre outside of Union cave.

The Nurse had just taken a look at Soul's bloodstained hand and her haggard Pokemon and put them up for the night, telling Soul to take a bath while she was here. She then added that no matter what had occurred, it was the Nuzlocke that had caused Don Ramon's death. Not anything she had done.

Soul found this a bitter cold comfort, not one she entirely believed either.

_We buried Don in front of Union Cave. He had always been so shy...I should have just given him food and sent him on his way. Don was never meant to be a battler, and I should have guessed it. If he hadn't had to prove himself to me..._

Soul stood in front of the grave Lucian had dug.

Her stalwart companion, usually the first to comfort her, was submerged in his own grief and curled up at the end of Soul's bed for the rest of the night. Soul didn't blame him for it. Emma was equally desolate, but she was solving her grief by flying about the trees, calling into the night.

_I wonder if I should release them. Tell Elm there's no way I'm doing this, that I can't finish it. How could I possibly justify continuing to put their lives in danger? This isn't even my world...what could allow me to make these choices?_

Marius was distraught. Sweet, gentle Sarah...she was doing more then Soul could ever have asked. Pushing aside her fear of electricity, Sarah had comforted Marius and sang until he fell asleep. Sarah was like a mother in many ways. With a slight twinge of bitterness, Soul remembered Emma telling her she would make a good mother.

_What kind of mother would make a mistake like that?_

The small grey boulder wasn't much of a headstone, but it was the best that Soul could find. The Nurse had helped her carve Don's name onto it, along with a short thank you for helping her get this far. It wasn't enough – not nearly enough – but it would have to do.

Walking along the side of the cave to where her companion was buried, Soul realized that she saw a lot of stones, just like hers, all marking small mounds that she hadn't noticed on first glance. There were other graves here.

They dotted the side of the cave, and the line followed into a nearby field. There were red flowers growing there, like poppies.

Soul blinked and looked at the rocks more clearly then she had before. Written on them were names, levels, and species. She even saw one stone marking the grave of a Chikorita, who had died protecting her own trainer. Soul's lips parted as she stared at the many displays, much more then she had expected.

_They're Pokemon...pokemon who died around this area. _Soul looked back in forth, slowing her pace towards the grave. Slowly, she walked over to the grave of Don. _All of them had Nuzlocke. How many more Pokemon die after this? How many more lost their lives because of the chemicals dumped into the Center system?_

It was at this point that Soul remembered something that Elm told her. Someone put the Nuzlocke into the centre system; it was no natural affliction.

_Who would do this? What could they possibly achieve by causing so much death? _Soul wondered as she knelt down and carefully set the headstone on the earth, just past the mound of dirt that covered Don's final resting place.

Placing her hands on her knees, Soul stared down at his grave. And while submerged in her sorrow, a burst of rage welled up in her chest.

_Who had the right to kill Don and all these other Pokemon? _She thought heatedly._ All this death, and for what?! _

Reaching out, Soul placed her hand on Don Ramon's tomb stone.

"Don?" She asked. "I don't know if you can hear me. But...I'm going to keep going. I need to find out where Nuzlocke comes from."

She swallowed over the lump in her throat and continued, "I don't know who's done this, or why. But I want to find out. This sickness killed you...you didn't deserve it. You deserved a lot better then this, and I'm sorry I failed you."

Shaking her head, Soul continued, because she needed to say this. "I'm going to find whoever did this. I promise you, I'll find them and I'll make them pay. I'm going to cure Nuzlocke."

With tears dripping onto his grave, Soul stood up and said. "Thank you for everything, Don Ramon. ...Goodbye..."

Slowly, she walked away from the grave, carrying her grief and her promise with her.

/

Soul's sleep was light and once again she woke up feeling like she hadn't slept at all. For the only moment when she had dreamed, her subconsciousness was filled with blood and gore, and the sound of Don's bones snapping.

She woke late in the afternoon, feeling as exhausted as when she had lain down last night, to find both Lucian and Marius on the bed with her. Lucian was under her arm while Marius had gone to sleep on her stomach. Sitting up slowly, Soul muttered something about how they needed to go.

"Where are Emma and Sarah?" She asked, blearily realizing that both her flying types were unaccounted for.

"They both asked to be returned to their Pokeballs." Lucian responded. He also sounded like he hadn't slept well either. Soul reached out and stroked his fur. Marius was still asleep; he probably needed it after yesterday.

"I'm sorry, Lucian." She murmured. "I should have been more careful."

Lucian blinked and responded, "No, Soul. I do not blame you."

"What?" Soul blinked and rubbed her eyes with her free hand. There seemed to be tears there from yesterday. "Why not? I certainly blame myself."

Lucian pressed his nose against her stomach. Soul gently scratched between his ears and listened hard to pick up on his words. "Soul, a sickness lies heavily on the land, one that infected Don. No matter what we did we...we could not have saved him."

It sounded painful for him to say. Gently, Soul gathered his entire body in a hug.

"I promised Don something when I buried him yesterday," She whispered. "I promised on his grave that I would find out who created Nuzlocke and get them back for his death. I thought about stopping... but if I stop here, then Nuzlocke will run rampant unabated and more people would die."

"When I went out to bury Don and give him his headstone, I saw more graves. There were dozens of them, Lucian...all lining Union cave. They were all Pokemon who died because of Nuzlocke. Its awful...if no one finds out how to stop Nuzlocke, then there will just be more graves like Don's..."

"So, I'm going to keep going." She said. Hesitating, she paused in petting his head. "You don't have to come with me if you don't want to. I just...I mean, I don't want to face this without you, but if you want to stay behind..."

Lucian looked up at that. Soul looked down at him, waiting for his response.

"Soul, I repeat myself when I say that I don't blame you for Don's death. Neither do Emma, Marius or Sarah, though they haven't said it aloud. If you intend to continue, we're going with you. If we stop here, Don's death will be for nothing."

Soul smiled weakly. "Thank you, Lucian."

She turned around and gently shook Marius. "Hey, Marius. Wake up." Sleepily, the Mareep blinked his eyes open and looked questioningly at her. "We're going to go through Union Cave now, okay? You feel up to it?"

"Sure, mom." Marius said, still sounding tired, but getting up and hopping to the floor nonetheless. Soul smiled at his tenacity and got to her feet, Lucian hopping to the floor along the way.

Defeating the Nidoran had caused him to evolve; in her grief drained state it had taken her until now to recognize it.

"You look amazing, Lucian." She said. "Sorry I didn't say that before."

Lucian blinked and looked up at her. He gave her something resembling a smile. "Thank you, Soul."

/

Union cave was dark inside. Soul called Emma out to help her see, and Lucian could cause fire to light their way. There was water there, which Soul had been told was home to Lapras some time, but she soon discovered that she didn't have enough repels to take them to the other side of the cave.

Her 'catch' for Union Cave was an Onix. Soul sighed once when the ball bounced back to her hand. _Yet another thing that had a theoretically amazing evolution that I'm completely barred from. _Steelix would be an amazing force, too. _I'm not having a good day. Or couple of days._

There were some trainers in the cave who looked like they hadn't seen the light of the sun in years. They had a crazed look to them, as though they had fled into the cave to try and hide themselves from Nuzlocke infected Pokemon.

Lucian was pretty much carrying the team, except for one trainer who had a Slowpoke. Marius, who had been pretty quiet ever since the cave had begun, took on the trainer with an intensity that he hadn't shown before. _He's growing up, _Soul thought, giving herself some good feelings for the first time since Don's death.

A serious problem had presented itself to Soul – none of her Pokemon could counter rock or ground types. Thankfully, both Geodude and Onix had atrocious special defence, so Lucian could still beat past them with some well-placed embers. _The team need more coverage, _Soul thought. _Maybe when I reach the Illex forest I'll be able to catch a grass type. _

A Firebreather accosted her, yelling about Zubats and supersonic and how they were killing his Pokemon. Marius jumped to her defence, taking out his Koffing and the Zubat. Soul thanked him in between a scolding for jumping out without warning her.

Eventually, Emma found the exit. "It's over here!" She called, flying back to the group. Sighing in relief, Soul and the team ran after her, following her down the last stretch of the cave and out into the open.

Soul took a deep breath, the rank cave air had been starting to get to her. It was pouring rain once again, soaking a beautiful field and the beginning of a new Route. Lucian was tired, so she wanted to get him to a Pokemon centre before she went looking for her encounter for this route.

Azeala Town looked more rural then Violet, but the gym was just the same. Oddly, though it was raining not to far away, the ground around Azeala was bone dry.

Soul dropped Lucian and Marius off at the Pokemon Centre to rest while she took a run back to the route to gain a new partner.

"Are you alright, dear?" Emma asked simply as they walked back into the rain and into the tall grass. The Hoothoot was very perceptive, so the young woman didn't bother lying.

"Not really." Soul responded honestly. "But I know I have to keep going. I'm sorry if it bothers you for me to go looking for a new teammate so soon, but I found out in Union cave that we have a serious problem with rock and ground types. I...I want to try and make sure that doesn't happen again."

Emma was quiet for a moment before saying, "I understand your decision, dear. However...upsetting I might find it, I also know that you're right. Come, let's see if our luck changes here."

Soul smiled softly. "Thank you Emma." She walked further into the tall grass.

And promptly had something bounce out out of the grass in front of her, and land on her head. Soul yelped in surprise. Emma immediately unleashed Hypnosis, causing the Pokemon to wobble and fall into Soul's waiting arms.

It was a Hoppip! Soul blinked, staring blankly down at the small pink and green Pokemon lying in her arms. After everything that had happened over the past day and a half, she hadn't expected a solution to her most pressing problem to literally drop into her lap.

Shaking off her shock, Soul quickly pulled a Pokeball out of her bag and _BONK!_, the small Pokemon vanished in a flash of red light. Running to get out of the rain, Soul stumbled to a stop not far away from the well. Slowing down, she held out her newest acquisition and opened the ball.

The Hoppip floated woozily in the air, before shaking his head wildly and looking around. "What? When?"

He turned and faced her. "Oh! You're the obstacle that interrupted my training! No matter, I will keep pushing myself until I get stronger, and can get my revenge!"

He tried to leap up again, but Soul grabbed him out of the sky easily.

"Oh!" The Hoppip groaned in frustration. "This is useless! Not only have I failed to get too strong, but I've gotten myself captured too! This is unacceptable!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa big guy," Soul said, holding the Hoppip at eye level with her. "Slow down. I heard 'training' and 'revenge'. What's going on?"

The Hoppip struggled in her grip, scowling fiercely. "Oh, you're a trainer! I know what you're thinking – oh, it's a Hoppip! One of the most useless grass types in existence, why couldn't I catch something strong?! Never mind me, struggling to get stronger in order to avenge the massacre of my family!"

"Massacre?!" Soul repeated. "What happened to you?"

The Hoppip ceased his struggling and looked blankly at her, as though he had expected her to just box him and move on. He looked at her open, concerned face, and something in his eyes unwound.

Shortly and tersely, he explained, "My family lived in the grass you just traversed, looking for a means to become more powerful. I don't know exactly when it happened, but to me it was just yesterday. _Men_, wicked men in black clothes, came to our home. They were looking for strong Pokemon too, and they were seething over a defeat they were handed by a _child_. They found us, and enraged by our apparent weakness, they vented their rage upon us. My mother, my father, my three brothers...they were all fed to those sickening poison types."

Soul felt her stomach lurch, and the sickly feeling that had stalked her immediately after Don's death came back with a vengeance. "They...just like that?"

The Hoppip bounced as much as he could in her grip. "Without remorse and without reason. They laughed about it afterwards! I survived because mother took the time to hide me...I've never forgiven them...I subjected myself to the greatest training I could muster, so I might pay them back in kind."

Soul looked seriously at him, before letting him go. The Hoppip made a noise of surprise.

"Listen." She said. "I think I know the people you're referring too. I...I lost someone recently, too."

"You did?" The Hoppip said in surprise.

"Yeah. He...his name was Don Ramon. Someone put a containment in the Pokemon Center system that weakens a Pokemon's natural healing. I'm going on this journey because I want to find out who did it, and stop them." Soul said, staring back at Hoppip sternly. "I'm a trainer. I can help you get strong enough to trash the guys who killed your family. In return...I'd like your help avenging friend."

The Hoppip popped up and down, looking back at her. "...You're different from all the other trainer's I've seen." He said. "I'm impressed. This partnership may work out after all."

"What's your name?" Soul asked. The Hoppip looked flabbergasted at this. Clearly he'd been expected to get saddled with some insulting nickname before being dumped in the storage system permanently. Of course, Soul wasn't meeting any of his expectation.

"I am called Eren." He declared. "And you are?"

"Soul." The young woman answered with a slight smile. "The girl who put you to sleep is Emma, my Hoothoot. The rest of my team is at the Center, so let's get you acquainted."

She turned to go back to the Pokemon Center, but she had hardly gone three steps when someone grabbed her bag. "Hey kid!" Whoever it was spun her around, and Soul found herself face to face with a large red R. "What're you doing down here? Don't you know it's dangerous down here?"

"YOU!" Eren roared, flying straight at the Rocket's face. Yelping in surprise, the man stumbled backwards, loosing his grip on Soul while he was at it.

Soul righted herself and put her hands on her hips. Her heart was hammering, but she looked remarkably calm as she faced the Rocket grunt.

She put her hands in her pockets and glared at him. "Team Rocket," She pronounced in disgust. "So you've come crawling out of the woodwork. Didn't learn your lesson when you got your collective asses kicked by an eleven year old boy?"

The Rocket Grunt tried to spit at her, but he was bowled over by Eren. Soul opened her mouth to tell him to come back so they could interrogate the grunt properly when she nearly got run over again.

An old but stocky man grabbed the Grunt and yelled, "where are our Slowpoke, you band of scum?!"

"Hey! Hey!" The Grunt yelled, "This is not in my paycheck! AGH!"

The old man had pushed the grunt a little too far, and their combined weight sent them tumbling into the well. Soul's heart skipped a beat.

"Soul!" The young woman had never been so relieved to hear a friend's voice. Lucian and Marius came hurtling down the slope, having clearly been tailing the old man.

"Have you seen an old man named Kurt?! He's a brave but foolhardly soul who thinks he can kick out a resurgence of Team Rocket!" Her lead Pokemon said hastily.

"I know!" Soul exclaimed, hurrying towards the well. "He attacked a grunt and they both fell in the well! He could be hurt!"

"Who's this, mom?" Marius asked, taking a moment to be confused by Eren's presence.

"Eren, this is Lucian and Marius. Lucian and Marius, this is our newest teammate Eren." Soul cut the introductions down to the barest basics. She was worried about Kurt; even young people could break things when falling from that height – and older people were frailer.

"Come on! We've got work to do!" Soul said, swinging her legs over the side of the well and beginning to climb down the ladder, deep into the well.

**End Chapter**

**I admit, Don's death was kind of a shock. He had taken down the female Nidoran earlier, and I had honestly forgotten which level the Nidoran line learned Double Kick. Two leers later and I had my first death. Granted, I wasn't as close to Don as I was to Lucian, Emma or Marius, but...ow. Just ow. Sorry, Don Ramon. I should have been more careful. Anyway, enter Eren the vengeful Hoppip! He'll be fun to write, I think.**

**RIP Don Ramon, level 3-10**

**Eren the Hoppip, brave nature, route 33 catch**


	6. Chapter 6

**Moonlight and Fire, a SoulSilver Storylocke**

**_Wanda: Whew! Grinding is tougher then it looks when the EXP give is so low! What I wouldn't give for a few Audino. Anyway, here's the next chapter - Soul's confrontation with Team Rocket! I do not own Pokemon_  
**

**Chapter 6: Team Rocket**

Water was leaking and dripping down the slippery ladder as Soul made her way further down into the Slowpoke Well. The young trainer grimaced, holding tight until her knuckles went white to keep steady as she travelled further down. She had called her Pokemon back to their balls so they could get into the well more easily.

The well was dark and forbidding, and the drip-drip-drip of the water was doing her nerves no favours. Closer to the bottom, one of her shoes slipped and nearly sent her crashing to the ground. Holding with both hands, Soul managed to gently drop to the ground.

Immediately, she let Lucian, Marius and Eren out of their Pokeballs. She had expected to get set upon the minute she reached the floor if not before that. _This is crazy. I'm a sixteen year old girl, and I'm about to confront a bunch of vicious gangsters?! _Her palms started to sweat a bit. _Damn it, Soul, stay calm. _

"Mom!"

Soul blinked and turned around quickly. Marius had found Kurt before her; the Mareep was sitting next to the old man who was leaning against the rock, in visible pain.

"Sir?" Soul asked, running across the well to the man's side. Kurt winced and looked up at her.

"Hey there, miss." He said, before cringing and groaning in pain. Marius bleated in concern, and Soul began examining Kurt. He wasn't visibly injured, but that didn't rule out internal wounds...

"Are you hurt?" She asked, deciding to go for the direct approach.

"I knocked that grunt down," Kurt said, "but when we hit the ground I hurt my back. Ooof, if I were a little big younger, my Pokemon would have taught them a lesson."

"You just hang in here, old man," Eren growled, "We'll deal with the lessons in pain for you!"

The Hoppip made to fly off deeper into the well, but Lucian grabbed him with one paw while looking at Soul for instructions.

Soul took a deep breath. "I should get you out of here, first..." She said uncertainly, looking between the ladder and the deeper well.

"Please, miss." Kurt said softly, putting a hand on her shoulder. "The Rocket scum in the wells have taken all our Slowpokes. They're cutting off their tails to sell them."

Soul shut her eyes and grimaced. Even if she'd known it ahead of time, it still made her stomach lurch. "That's awful!"

"Please go save them," Kurt said quietly. "I can't help them...but you're a trainer. My granddaughter's Slowpoke is down there, too."

Soul glanced further down again, and made her decision.

"Okay."

She took a breath, and grabbed one of her remaining Pokeballs. "Emma, you stay here with Kurt. Try and get someone's attention so they can get him out of here," She said firmly.

Standing up to her full height, she looked between Lucian, Marius and Eren. "Let's go." She said, eyes narrowing.

/

The well didn't go too deep, so they came across Rocket Grunts pretty quickly. Soul stepped into the lower passages in time to see two of them shoving bloody tails into a black bag, Slowpoke whimpering at their feet while blood soaked the floor.

When one's whines got too loud, the nearest Rocket turned around and stomped on it, "Shut up you miserable creature! SHUT UP!" The Slowpoke whimpered and fell silent.

"Hurry up," The first one said. "Executive Proton gave us a direct quota to fill! And you got the attention of that old man, who might call for help and then we'll all be exposed! I don't wanna risk my neck for a newbie."

"Oh, stuff it," The second one said crankily, kicking another Slowpoke aside as he started looking around. "That old man's not going anywhere. With any luck, he's broken his spine. I'm looking for more Slowpoke. These things don't grow on trees."

He began walking in the direction of the entrance, muttering about the things grunts put up with. He didn't realize he was walking straight towards danger.

Watching from the corner, the young woman and her Pokemon were torn on what to do.

Eren was all for charging straight in and beating every Rocket bloody with his wings, but Lucian held him back. Lucian favoured a more cautious approach, unsure of how strong these particular grunts were. Marius, unusually for the friendly child, was quite hostile and agreed with Eren's approach.

Lucian held them back, waiting for a command from his trainer.

Soul's internal emotions were warring between righteous rage and borderline panic. Maybe they used Pokemon, but these people were still gangsters!

Organized criminals didn't particularly care if they had to dump the occasional body in the river to make sure their operations weren't disturbed.

Soul remembered in her first year at highschool that happened to one of her classmates. He had been a reckless kid, never knew when to stay out of trouble, but that didn't mean he deserved to get hauled out of a ditch with a bullet in his chest. Soul could still see his eyes, wide and staring. Fearful in his last moments.

She didn't doubt that the Rockets were capable of similar things. Eren had told her the Rockets had slaughtered an entire family of Hoppip just because they were there. Then there was the Marowak from back in Lavander, and the stolen Pokemon sold for profit in the Game Corners. Soul was dimly aware that her fingernails were digging into her palm until it was painful.

Soul never would have dreamed of confronting dangerous people before she became a trainer. She might have been bored but she had a healthy respect for her life.

Something nudged her ankle. Soul blinked and looked down, seeing what looked like a very young Slowpoke who was injured, but had managed to escape without loosing its tail.

She looked down at the whimpering Slowpoke, who looked pitifully at her while blood spilled onto the floor. Soul's mind flashed back to Don, his blood splattering the stone and the snap of bone when his neck was broken.

The Slowpoke let out a pleading whine, pain in its eyes.

And that was it.

_If you can save someone's life, do you have any justifications for turning and fleeing? _

Soul knelt and pulled out a potion. Gently, she sprayed it across the Slowpoke's injury, closing it up, before petting it on the head.

"It's going to be okay," She said softly. "I'll get rid of them."

Standing up again, she said, "Guys, this is what we're going to do – these guys will have poison and normal types, so Lucian will go first. Marius, you're on Zubat duty. Eren...the Rattata. Let's save these Slowpoke."

With that, Soul walked calmly into the larger tunnel. The two arguing Grunts ceased their conversation and turned towards her.

"Hey!" The newer grunt yelled, recognizing her immediately. "You're that girl from outside! Get outta here, we're working!"

Soul tilted her head back and glared back at him, gesturing to her Pokemon. "Okay, listen up thugs. We can do this the easy way, or the hard way – get out of my way, leave the Slowpokes alone and I won't have my Pokemon beat your senseless."

The Rocket Grunt let out an incredulous snort. "Like we're going to listen to some jumped up brat. Zubat! Rattata! Get her!"

Soul blinked when Marius hurtled forward first, unleashing a huge Thundershock that threw the Zubat against the wall with one hit. It slunk against the wall, smoke coming off its wings. The Rocket grunt gaped, looking almost as surprised as Soul felt at her Mareep's sudden aggression.

"Leave mom alone!" Marius barked, fur crackling with electricity.

Eren was in his element almost immediately. He threw himself bodily at the Rattata, tossing it up in the air before lunging for the knockout blow. The Rattata was thrown against the stone wall. The Hoppip's homicidal look became less comical when the edges of his leaves were splattered with red blood.

Soul flinched slightly, Don flashing before her eyes for a brief moment, but she shut her eyes and forced herself to shut the thoughts away. Kurt and the Slowpoke needed her here, not lost in her guilt. Don would want her to help them, like she had helped her.

The Rocket Grunt took several steps backwards when her Pokemon tossed his aside with no damage done to themselves. His companion stepped forward, but there was a nervousness to her step, which made her wonder if she was thinking about Red and how he defeated them before.

"Allow me, Soul." Soul looked down to see Lucian. "I promised I would keep you safe. I will not allow these loathsome scoundrels to gain any ground."

Soul nodded slightly. "You go, Lucian. I trust you. Marius, come back."

Lucian faced down the Team Rocket grunt. "Send in your Pokemon, coward." He growled. "And we'll see how well you thugs fair against an equal opponent."

Soul wasn't sure if the Rocket grunts could understand Lucian, but the tone seemed to transcend any potential language barriers. She grabbed her only Pokeball and threw it. An Ekans appeared in the floor.

Lucian's eyes narrowed into slits at the appearance of the poison type. Fire exploded out of his back and he threw himself at the Ekans, biting into its throat. The poison snake responded by spitting a purple cloud into the air. Lucian coughed and choked, causing Soul to recognize poison gas.

She raised a hand to tell him to come back, get an Antidote, but if Lucian saw her movement he gave no sign of it. Blinded by anger, he spat another ember at the Ekans who had wrapped him in its coils. Another flare of fire and the Ekans collapsed, Lucian dropping to the floor in exhaustion.

The two grunts yelped almost simultaneously, stared at Soul and ran back deeper into the cave. Soul immediately ran to Lucian's side, Eren darting straight after the grunts while Marius remained at her heels.

"Lucian, you scared me." Soul whispered, antidote in one hand and potion in the other.

"Forgive me for making you worry," Lucian murmured as the healing kicked in. He pushed himself back to his paws as soon as the glow faded away. "Let us go on, Soul. Eren has gone ahead, and there will be more of these vile men inside."

Soul nodded and rubbed his neck slowly. "I know...just, just don't scare me like that again."

A scream echoed from around the corner. Soul, Lucian and Marius bolted deeper into the well to see a grunt fleeing from Eren, who was spitting seeds at them so quickly they might as well have been bullets.

_I think I've caught the world's most psychotic Hoppip. _Soul thought, staring after the pink and green Pokemon. _It would happen to me, wouldn't it? _

/

Executive Proton was not known for his patience.

The Executives were the ones in charge of keeping Team Rocket in line when their leader disappeared, disgraced by his defeat at the hands of the youngest champion who had ever lived. The four of them had been Giovanni's favourites, having been personally trained by him. They had the highest success rate out of all of the grunts who had worked for him during the rise of their organization. So when Giovanni had disappeared, the responsibility of continuing Team Rocket's legacy had fallen on them.

Proton had always favoured forward, brutal fear tactics the most out of the group. People in Kanto had feared his name before that brat Red came along and defeated them. He had been itching for payback ever since, but he knew the folly of challenging the boy in their current state. So he'd been taking it out on various bypassers until Archer intervened.

Archer had always been the strategist and believed himself to be the one closest to their leader. He claimed that Proton's venting was drawing too much attention to their return before they were sufficiently prepared. So he'd demoted Proton to the lowest rung within the Executives, sticking him with these stupid menial tasks while Petrel began the infiltration parts of their mission.

PETREL! The man was a coward and hadn't missed a moment to lord over Proton whenever they met up to exchange information. The aqua-haired man desperately wanted his old Pokemon back so he could wipe that stupid smirk of the gangly man's face.

Proton slashed his knife through the empty air, cursing under his breath. Once he'd finished this assignment, he would demand that Archer assign him something worthy of his time. The next time a grunt came to him, crying that he couldn't handle a frigging Slowpoke, he would slash their throat open.

Walking over to the latest Slowpoke that had been dropped in front of him, he picked the squirming creature up by the tail. "Hold still." He barked, swinging the knife back. "You'll only make it hurt more this way."

"STOP!"

Proton started and turned around. His eyes narrowed instantly. A young woman stood across from him; she was flanked by a Quilava, a Mareep, and a Hoppip of all Pokemon. There was a look in her eyes that was unpleasantly familiar; a look that reminded him of Red.

"A trainer?" He enquired, giving the girl the most menacing look he had. "Where are those idiot guards? Are they so incompetent they can't deal with one stupid girl?"

To his satisfaction, the girl balked and swallowed when she saw the knife in his hand. The Mareep growled, the cones on his ears sparking. The Hoppip flew around her head in circles, giving Proton an amusing look of hate. Was the little pink puffball trying to intimidate him? That was laughable.

"Let the Slowpoke go," The girl said with some measure of bravado.

"Why should I?" Proton responded, slashing through the air with his knife. The girl flinched; the Quilava pushed against her leg as though offering her strength. _Another soft-hearted trainer opposing us. No matter where we go, there's someone who doesn't agree with us. _He thought distastefully. "Don't you know who we are? We're Team Rocket. We take what we want and go where we please."

"You also lost to an eleven year old." The girl said.

Proton's eye twitched in rage. "Getting smart with me, brat? You've got a lot of nerve, coming down here. You do realize that now that you're here, I have to shut you up?"

The girl paled. Her fingers clenched as she swallowed.

Proton laughed. "Look at you! You're terrified. And you should be. Run home, little girl, and I won't have to cut out your tongue."

Surprisingly, the direct threat seemed to strengthen the girl's spine instead of sending her running like it should have. Her eyes flashed and her back straightened up.

"I might be scared, but I won't let you butcher the Slowpoke or hurt anyone in this city." She retorted, stepping back into a fighting stance. "Lucian! You're up!"

_She gives her Pokemon names? _Proton thought angrily. _I really am having Red flashbacks. _

"Koffing! Fling this stupid Quilava aside!" He ordered.

Unfortunately for him, Lucian had several levels on his lead Pokemon. The blue and red Pokemon spat fire at the gases his Koffing let loose, making the air catch fire. The Koffing screamed as the air around it combusted, turning its tendencies to explode back on it.

"Wha...!" Proton choked, stepping backwards. He stared at the girl, who was regarding him coolly. _She...she beat my Pokemon! _

"You can give up now," She said mildly. "If you turn yourself in. Or you can send your other Pokemon out to take a beating."

"Zubat-" Proton started, but he didn't even get to finish his sentence before the girl pointed at his second Pokemon and the Mareep blasted it straight out of the sky.

Proton stumbled backwards. _I...lost? _

"Listen up." The girl said coldly, her expression shifting into something commanding and intense. "Get out of here, and take your goons with you. You're not welcome here."

Proton growled, his hand going back to his last Pokeball. It held an Abra, used only for escape purposes. "Who are you?" He demanded.

The girl flicked a strand of stray brown hair away from her green eyes. "I'm Soul. Champion to be, and the bane of people like you."

**End Chapter**

_**I had a brief scare with that Ekans (I really hate dealing with poison types when I don't have a psychic on the team) but apart from that Team Rocket was a breeze. The next chapter to this is already typed so you can expect another update soon!**_


	7. Chapter 7

**Moonlight and Fire, a SoulSilver Storylocke**

**_Wanda: Hey everyone, thanks so much to all who have reviewed! Anyway, this chapter exists mostly to give my Pokemon (and Soul) some breathing room and bonding time (and a way to make myself miserable if I loose one of them T.T) before taking on Bugsy, who was surprisingly easy given my first experience with him. I do not own Pokemon._  
**

**Chapter 7: Training, Talking and Bugsy**

Soul was so relieved to see the sun.

"Yeah! Look at 'em run!" Eren shouted exuberantly, floating to the ground as Soul stepped out of the well. "We routed them!"

Soul slumped against the well, watching a few dark glad figures disappear into the trees. Some of the lower level grunts hadn't had the luxury of escape Abras, evidently. Her hands shook, and she locked her fingers together to get the feeling back into them. _They're gone_, she said to herself, both elated and relieved. _You chased them out. _

She took a breath to ease her pounding heart, and ran her fingers through her hair. _It's been a while since I brushed it, _She thought, amazed that after everything she had seen that she was still capable of caring about such things.

She would have liked to chase them, but she was still shaken from fighting against Proton and decided to leave it to Bugsy and his gym trainers.

Shakily, she pulled her legs up against her chest and fought to focus on other things.

Lucian appeared from the road and walked back to her, having gone out first and taken Kurt to the Pokemon centre with Emma's help. Marius immediately snuggled under her arm and pressed against her side. Eren was floating around in the sky, looking to see if any of the grunts had been foolish enough to linger.

Smiling, Soul petted his head. Emma swooped down and alighted on the edge of the well, since there wasn't enough room to sit on her trainer's shoulder. "My dear, you look positively pale." The Hoothoot said. "What troubles you? We defeated the scoundrels and sent them running."

"Yeah, they were also gangsters who have assaulted and, to my knowledge killed, a Pokemon in the past." Soul responded, clutching at Marius's fur to soothe her nerves. "I admit it – I was scared as hell. Thanks for taking the lead, Lucian."

"It was no trouble, Soul." Lucian responded, sitting on her other side. "I would never let them hurt you."

Soul nodded in acknowledgement, tickling Marius's stomach as the Mareep climbed onto her chest. The youngest member of the team giggled, wagging his tail back and forth. "It isn't something I would have done, back home." She murmured, mostly to herself.

"Whadda mean, back home?" Eren asked, floating down to join the group.

Lucian nudged her arm. "Soul, it occurs to me that while you've spoken of coming from another world, I know nothing about it. Can you tell us about your home?"

Soul blinked. She realized that it was true. She had been trying not to think about her home ever since her arrival here. At Lucian's words, images of her home came flooding back – the long grey highways, the towering skyscrapers, the roar of cars as they carried people to their destination. She could see her school too; planes flying overhead and kids leaving to get lunch from the corner store.

She saw her mother and her father in their modest downtown house and wondered if they knew what had happened to her.

"Well..." She murmured, leaning back to stare at the sun which was sinking below the clouds. "It's a place with no Pokemon."

"No Pokemon?" Emma repeated, astounded.

"Yeah." Soul ducked her head and stared at the wall. "We have some animals, but none of them can do the things you guys can. There aren't any cows who can breathe fire or stomp ghosts into the ground. Rocks are just rocks. Things like that."

"I...I admit, I have trouble imagining such a place," Lucian said uncertainly. Soul reached out with one hand and scratched him behind the ears.

"Yeah." She said softly. "A big problem with this world is that it doesn't have my little knight in it."

Lucian looked up at her and then put his head on her lap. Marius bleated and said, "It doesn't have me either, does it mom?"

"Nope." Soul murmured, her fingers tangling in his fleece. Briefly, she wondered, again, what would happen to her team once she had completed her task here. She found she didn't really want to think about it.

Soul made a vague gesture to the world around her, coming back to her explanation of her world.

"There are a lot of big cities there, too...have any of you been to Goldenrod?"

"I've heard of it." Eren said. "Big, golden place. Kind of the central hub of Johto."

"Well, there are all sorts of cities just like Goldenrod back home. They're everywhere; I lived in one before this happened. There are some buildings that are so tall they seem to scrape against the sky. I live not to far away from the CN Tower – it's this one building that broke the record for tallest freestanding structure ever built." Soul pointed up towards the sky.

"And there are airplanes, great flying machines that people use to get to faraway places since none of them have bird Pokemon." She said.

"Huh," Emma hooted thoughtfully.

"There's also school. There aren't any journeys for the kids to go on, so they go there to learn the stuff they'll need in order to get jobs later in life." Soul continued.

"You don't sound very enthusiastic about that," Eren noted.

Soul shrugged and scowled. "Well, I wasn't really good at it. At...anything, really. That, and insomnia makes it more difficult then usual."

"It sounds really boring." Eren remarked, floating down until he was sitting on her right shoe. He was so light that it didn't bother her.

"It was." Soul responded with a slight smile. "It's a very different place from here."

"I gather as much." Lucian said. "I wonder, if a legendary is what brought you here, why would they chose someone from such a different world?"

Soul bit her lip. "I don't know," She admitted. "It doesn't make a lot of sense when you look at it that way...I guess I'll find out."

The group sat in silence for a long moment, before Emma pipped up, "Do you miss it there, dear?"

"What? Uh..." Soul blinked, heart skipping as she was forced to confront the question. "I...well, of course I do. I was born there. My parents are there...I just haven't been thinking about it. I mean, there's a lot to do."

Marius looked up at her, blue eyes wide. Soul forced down the image of leaving him behind as she returned to her home in a flash of light.

_Need a new focus. Now. _

Soul looked at the sky and said, "Lucian, Emma, we're going to do some training. I'll by relying on you guys for taking on Bugsy, and there's not too much daylight left. Eren, you're weak against Bug Types, so do some slower training with Marius. Let's go, folks."

/

"So, kiddo..." Eren said, watching as Marius blasted another Zubat. "How long have you been with Soul?"

"My whole life," The Mareep said solemnly. "My mom hatched me. She takes me to see special places, and she carries me when I'm tired. She's great."

"Eh?" Eren hovered in the air. "Er, kid...you do realize that Soul's a human, right? She's not your mom."

"Of course she is," Marius said, confused. "She hatched me. She loves me and takes care of me. She's mom."

Eren wondered if he should explain that Marius likely had another mother, who the trainer society had probably taken his egg away from. Then he thought about Soul; she wasn't the type to steal eggs. Nah. She had put a Hoppip on her active team.

"Well, it's good that you've got your mother looking out for you, then." Eren said. He and Marius were training at the mouth of Union cave. In the tall grass where he had met Soul, Lucian and Emma were fighting wilds at Soul's instructions.

"Is your mom okay with you coming with us?" Marius asked, watching while Eren tore down an Onix.

"Ah." Eren's heart squeezed as he remembered his mother's battered body in the jaws of an Arbok. "My mom's gone, Marius."

"Gone?" Marius repeated, his tail slowing to a stop. "You mean gone...like Uncle Don?"

Eren recalled Soul mentioning there was someone she wanted to avenge. "Yeah. It was some time ago."

"Oh. I'm sorry." Marius said quietly.

"Eh, don't worry kid. In some ways, it gives me strength. I know what I have to do, and I'm going to get strong enough to go through with it." Eren said.

Marius nodded. "I want to help." He said. "I'm gonna get stronger too."

Eren, almost despite himself, felt a tug of fondness for the Mareep pup. "I''m sure you'll do good, kid. When you evolve into your third stage, you'll be a force to be reckoned with."

Marius's fleece crackled with excitement as his blue eyes lit up. "That's when I turn into Ampharos, right? Mommy showed me a picture with her Pokedex!" He bounced on his feet. "Then I'll be able to throw big lightning around!"

"Zubat behind you, kid." Eren said in warning. Marius turned around and zapped the offending Pokemon, before looking back at Eren.

"Will you turn big too?" Marius asked.

"Well...sort of," Eren said. "I won't really get _big_, but I'll get a lot stronger, for sure. I'll turn blue!"

"Blue?" Marius gasped, as though that was the most fascinating thing ever. "But you're pink now!"

"Yeah, well you'll turn pink when you become Flaaffy." Eren retorted. "Then we can be pink together."

"Hooray!" Marius cheered. "I'll be pink with Uncle Eren!"

/

"Good work, Lucian." Soul called as Lucian blasted down a Rattata. "Another level and you should be ready for the gym."

"Really, dear, I would have thought we could walk through the gym unopposed. I mean, it's a bug gym." Emma said, pecking a nearby Bellsprout and sending it tumbling down.

"Be at ease, Soul. We shall be fine." Lucian said.

"You be at ease. I hate bugs." Soul shuddered.

"Darling, if you're going to be like this at every gym, this could be a major problem." Emma frowned. "First Flying, now bugs?"

"There are three things in the world that scare me." Soul retorted. "heights, bugs, and the dark. Normal bugs are bad enough, but that bloody Scyther is going to be almost as tall as I am! There called _phobias, _Emma!"She paused. "In fact, add small enclosed spaces to that list."

"I see," Lucian responded patiently. "Just remember you aren't in danger, Soul. Not while I am looking out for you."

"Thank you." Soul said. "Emma, you're getting there too. Keep training for a bit longer; I'm going to check us into the Azaela Hotel." Turning on her heel, Soul sprinted towards the town.

Lucian fired another Ember and sat down, catching his breath. "I cannot wait to gain a stronger fire move," He said tiredly. "A page's blade will not give me the power I need."

"It will come in time." Emma said, fluttering to the ground next to him. "I can't wait to evolve." She said. "Then I will be strong and beautiful."

Lucian turned towards Emma and tilted his head. "But you are already beautiful," He said, puzzled.

Emma's cheeks turned slightly pink. "You're very charming, Lucian. Thank you. But I won't reach my full potential until I evolve."

Lucian tilted his head slightly. "It would be wise not to overexert ourselves. If you have tired yourself, how about we rest for a moment?"

"I like that idea," Emma responded. Lucian turned and walked back towards a tree. Emma flew up to the lowest branch, directly over the Quilava's head. There was a moment of silence.

"You were very eager to come with us, Emma." Lucian spoke up eventually. "I am grateful for your presence, but I've been wondering why you felt so compelled to come."

"Well...you've seen that route, Lucian." Emma said, somewhat uncomfortable. "It's a low place. The boondocks of Johto. I like Soul well enough, but she was partially a way out of that place. I was never very happy in that place. And...I wanted to look for something."

"Did you come from elsewhere?" Lucian asked curiously.

"Yes." Emma sighed. "I was in a flock with my parents and my siblings. There was a storm when we were flying near New Bark Town, and we were separated. I was just a Hoothoot, so I didn't have the strength to go looking for them on my own. I was alone."

Lucian paused. "I'm sorry, Emma." He said.

Emma shook her head. "Don't you worry about me too much, Lucian. I admit it was part of the reason I decided to go with Soul. We're both looking for our homes."

"You never mentioned this to her," Lucian remarked, sounding surprised.

"I didn't want to burden her anymore then she already is." Emma admitted, rocking on her branch. "I didn't feel the need to tell her when we first met. After Marius hatched, I thought about telling her, but I stalled after...after what happened before Union Cave. Soul's been given such a big task...it wouldn't be fair to distract her with something so menial."

"She would help you, if you asked." Lucian said softly.

"I'm sure she would," Emma responded. "But as I said, she has enough to think about, now we have those Rocket scum to worry about and she isn't getting proper sleep on top of everything. My flock can wait."

"That's very selfless of you." Lucian said.

"Thanks. What about you, big guy?" Emma asked curiously. "I know starter Pokemon are handed out by Professors, but why would you want to go out with Soul on this dangerous journey?"

"The duty of a knight is to help those in trouble." Lucian recited. "Soul is lost in a world that is not her own. She's been brought her by powers beyond her understanding, and she's been asked to shoulder a task that the last few trainers who attempted it had failed. I wanted to help her."

"How noble. You don't have any personal reasons for going on this expedition?" Emma asked, tilting her head to the right.

Lucian frowned. "Well, I suppose there's Victor and Silver. I don't know why Victor chose to go with that thief, and we are sworn to look for him and try to bring him in. Soul seems to think that there's more to Silver then meets the eye, but I am less inclined to believe it. He's a thief and a criminal."

The Quilava stood up and pointed his nose back in the direction of the well. "And now Team Rocket has returned. I know about their first appearance and what they're capable of. It disturbs me that they've returned...not only after they were disbanded by Red, but also in the wake of Nuzlocke. I can't help but wonder if they are connected to it."

"Eren certainly believes that," Emma said, glancing towards the mouth of Union Cave. Both Eren and Marius had emerged from it, looking quite cheerful.

"He has reason to." Lucian responded. "Soul spoke of what the Rockets took from him."

"I certainly hope he knows to be careful," Emma said, watching Marius headbutt the Hoppip, who playfully swatted him with one of his rotar leaves. "Team Rocket is known for carrying poison types."

"Everyone!" Lucian got up and sprinted towards his trainer, Emma floating after her. Soul had jogged back from Azaela Town. Putting her hands on her hips, she surveyed the group with a smile. "I've got a hotel. The Gym isn't open this late, so we're going to challenge tomorrow."

Soul looked between the group and opened her Pokedex. "Marius, you're pretty close to evolving. That's good! Emma, you're getting closer as well. Eren, Lucian...looking good. I think we can call this a productive day."

Closing it, she smiled at her four head fighters. "Now let's go get some sleep."

/

The Azaela Hotel was bigger then the ones in Cherrygrove or Violet City. What made it weirder for Soul was that people recognized her, there.

News of the dark-clad girl who had chased Team Rocket out of the well and saved all the Slowpoke had spread like wildfire, and Soul had several random people walk up to her and express their thanks and gratitude with medicine and other gifts that weren't usually found at the Pokemart, like Ethers. Her room had been upgraded, too, when the desk clerk realized who she was. The attention was sort of embarrassing, though Soul felt a bit warm inside.

Marius fell asleep first once they got upstairs. The training had tired him out. He curled up on the rug at the foot of her bed, looking very adorable in the moonlight shining through the window. Lucian joined him, while Emma floated around outside. Being nocturnal, she was in her element. Eren went to sleep last, after Soul said they would keep an eye out for more Rockets.

Finding herself once again unable to sleep, Soul got out of bed and sat down by the windowsill. It had begun to rain outside; the Slowpoke must have regrouped. Soul watched the rain fall, surprised to see that the moon was shining through the clouds.

The Togepi egg was sitting in her lap as she watched the wind and the rain fall. _Well, everyone's gotten stronger, and I doubt that Bugsy will be much of a challenge with both Emma and Lucian up front. So I shouldn't loose anyone. That's good..._

_Team Rocket is back. Are they involved with the Nuzlocke epidemic? Or is that just too simple? If it was as simple as clearing out the centres, they probably could have done that by now..._Soul bit her lip and blew a strand of hair away from her face.

_Why me? There are so many trainers in this world, why would a legendary go over to a world where there were no Pokemon to pick a champion? That's so strange...I've seen that shadow in my sleep. Was it Lugia? _

Tilting her head back, Soul stared up at the moon. _I can't believe I actually kicked Team Rocket out. More then that, when I look back on it, I'm not scared. I'm actually kind of calm. The old me never would have confronted armed Yakuza. _

_Am I changing? Is my mind refocusing itself so it was like this world is the one that was always my home? I haven't even gotten too far, and this world is starting to feel familiar, less alien. _

_I don't know how to feel about this. I still don't know if my mom and dad know what's happened to me, or if they've even realized that I've disappeared. But then there's Lucian and Marius and Emma and Eren. They're my first real friends. Lucian the knight, my first companion. Emma, who's motherly to me in her own way, and Marius...Marius thinks I'm his mother. Eren needs revenge. _

_They're my team. Can I be for them what they need? Can I become Champion of Johto and Kanto? Will that even be enough?_

Soul smiled slightly to herself and drew lines on the windowsill with her fingers_. You know? After what happened today, I'm starting to believe that I can. _

The egg in her lap grew warm. Remembering the sensation from when Marius's egg hatched, Soul ducked her head and looked at it. The surface shattered, and curled up in Soul's hands was Togepi.

It was adorable! Soul held the small egg Pokemon up to eye level. The Togepi took a moment to focus on her, but once it did happiness glowed in its eyes and the markings on its shell.

It reached out and touched Soul on the nose with its small hand. With a jolt, Soul couldn't help but feel like someone else was watching this moment.

An instant later, the feeling faded away, and Soul began to feel tired, and more optimistic at the same time.

_Tomorrow I bulldoze Bugsy. Then I go in to see the rest of this world._

Slowly she trudged over to the bed, sat the Togepi down on the extra pillow, and collapsed. Sleep came easily for the first time in a long time.

/

"My goodness! The Egg hatched?! I knew it was a good idea to entrust it to you!" Professor Elm said excitedly over the Pokegear. Soul had woken late in the morning, and the first thing she did before approaching the gym was getting Marlo introduced to Elm.

"It was no trouble," Soul said easily. "I haven't taken him to the Pokemon Center or anything. I thought I would transfer him to you so he doesn't get infected."

"I'm glad. There's a lot I want to understand, and I was hoping to run some tests on a Pokemon who wasn't infected." Professor Elm said. "You can use the Pokemon Storage System to get him here, instead of walking all the way back to New Bark Town. Just deposit him in the first Box – it's a Pokemon Enclosure in the back of my laboratory!"

"Gotcha." Soul said. "I'm going to challenge Bugsy after Marlo's sent to you. Lucian and Emma should have this in the bag."

"Excellent! Soul, I heard from Kurt that Team Rocket has turned. More then that, you've confronted them on one of their operations and driven them away." Professor Elm said seriously.

"Yeah, I did." Soul responded. "It wasn't that bad."

Professor Elm's brow furrowed. "That's all well and good, Soul, but I need you to be careful now. The Rockets will remember that you stopped them. You might get targeted."

Soul glanced down at her Pokemon, and then back at the screen. "I think I can handle it." She said sincerely. "Goodbye, Professor."

Closing the Pokegear, Soul walked to the back of the Pokemon Center and booted up the PC system. Calling Marlo into his Pokeball, she placed it on the 'transfer' chamber and watched as it vanished with a flash of green light. Checking the system, Soul found it empty except for Jade and Sarah, who had decided to keep the unruly Geodude company. With a short sigh of satisfaction, Soul closed the screen and walked back outside.

She opened Emma and Lucian's Pokeballs and walked towards the gym.

/

"Yo! Champ in the making!" The doorman was the same guy she'd seen back in Violet, though Soul didn't spend time wondering how and when he'd gotten here. Instead she reflected on how nice it was that someone was cheering for her. "Bugsy's a young genius; he knows all there is to know about the bug type! But even the toughest bug is weak against fire or flying."

"Thanks. I think we'll be fine." Soul said, glancing around the room. There were a lot of spider webs and she could hear Spinarak crawling along the walls. She shuddered and started walking forward.

It had been smart to stock up on status healers. Bug types carried poison, sleep and paralysis moves, and used them with impunity against her lead Pokemon.

Soul's fingers would twitched whenever a bug Pokemon got close to her, but Lucian and Emma fought their way towards Bugsy with little issue outside of the occasional potion and antidote.

Bugsy was standing, waiting for her, and he scowled when Soul and Lucian stepped up onto his platform and stood across from him. "A fire type?" He said, raising an eyebrow. "So you're planning to try and flatten me with a type advantage?"

"...Maybe?" Soul said, shrugging. She couldn't restrain a squeak when Bugsy's lead Pokemon, Scyther, appeared in a flash of light.

"I think you'll find that I have a few more tricks up my sleeve just for situations like this." Bugsy said confidently. "Scythe, U Turn!"

"Lucian, Ember!" Soul yelled, her voice a higher pitch then usual thanks to the giant bug. (which was, in fact, almost her size)

The Scyther's blade hit Lucian in the gut and sent him sprawling, before flashing white. Lucian scrambled to his feet and spat out a ember, but the Scyther had disappeared, being replaced by a Metapod.

Soul gaped at it. "You're a gym leader, and you haven't evolved a METAPOD?" She sputtered. "Why would you do that?!"

Lucian's ember took the cocoon Pokemon down with a single hit. Soul hurried to her Pokemon's side and sprayed him with a super potion; the blow had done a lot more damage then she had expected it to. She patted him on the head and stood back.

Bugsy frowned, before responding, "I haven't had a need."

"haven't had the need – Why would a _gym leader _keep a Pokemon that couldn't fight?!"

"I don't need them!" Bugsy insisted. With a flash, his lead Pokemon re-appeared. "Scythe, do it again! U-Turn!"

"Lucian, faster!" Soul urged.

Lucian righted himself and faced down the opponent. The Scyther rushed at him with breakneck speed, while the Quilava stood his ground.

Eyes narrowing, Lucian breathed fire when the enemy was directly in front of him, catching the brunt of the flames.

Soul cheered as the Scyther went down. Bugsy scowled, his hand clutching at his last Pokeball.

"I...I yield." He stammered, looking humiliated. "My last Pokemon is a Metapod."

The VICTORY TO THE CHALLENGER sign lit up again. Soul relaxed and let out the breath she had been holding. Despite her hatred of bugs, the gym had gone by quite smoothly.

Soul walked over to him, Lucian right behind her. "Thank you," She said when the young gym leader put the badge in her hand without looking at her. "Really, you should evolve those two. Butterfree learns status moves that can slow down fire and flying types."

"I...you're right," Bugsy said, looking shamefaced. "I got overconfident, I guess...when I caught Scythe, I was thrilled. They're very rare now..."

"Scyther are boss," Soul agreed. "But they can't really carry a whole team by themselves. Just...do try and get that Butterfree. They can learn Hyper Beam."

At that, Bugsy looked up and gave her a stunned look. "They can?"

"Yeah." Soul said, closing her hand around the badge. It felt warm and shiny in her palm. "It's amazing what some Pokemon people deride as useless can do."

**End Chapter**

_**The Hyper Beam Butterfree is a reference to Nuzrook, and excellent run of SoulSilver which can be seen on Deivantart and the Nuzlocke Forums. I highly recommend it. I never understood why Bugsy would have one really good Pokemon, and then two dead weight who can realistically already be in their final forms. Either way, the gym was easy picking for Emma and Lucian. However, my next gym will not be so forgiving...**_

_**Also, Marlo has Serene Grace. I hereby retract what I said about him earlier and have promoted him to #1 Backup in case stuff goes wrong.**_

_**Read and Review please!**_


	8. Chapter 8

**Moonlight and Fire, a SoulSilver Storylocke**

**_Wanda: Welcome back everyone! Wow, I finally made it through the Illex forest! Yippie! And with no deaths to worry about, I can focus on the worldbuilding and the character development, particularly for our two main human characters! Oh Silver, you are so interesting to write, even if I have to throw out your dialogue three times every draft because it doesn't sound right. I do not own Pokemon._  
**

**Chapter 8: The Whispers of Illex**

Soul stretched and took in the late morning sun as she and Lucian walked out of Bugsy's gym. After a quick stop at the Pokemon Center, she let Marius out of his Pokeball and the three of them started heading for the Illex Forest.

"Well, it looks like we're done here." She said, glancing behind her as they approached the gate. "That wasn't as bad as I thought it might be."

"I can only hope I get a stronger fire attack soon," Lucian sighed. "I've been using ember for long enough."

"If I remember correctly, you should be getting something soon." Soul responded, wracking her brain for which level Quilava learned Flame Wheel.

"Hey."

His voice made Soul stop up short.

Spinning around, Soul saw Silver walking towards her. There was a scar on his face that hadn't been there the last time she'd seen him, cutting across his forehead and past his ear. He looked dirty and scratched up, though if anything the aura he projected seemed darker then when she had last seen him. More then even that, there were his eyes.

His eyes were set, but the anger in them was different. Hotter. More present.

Silver stopped in front of her and crossed his arms. "Is it true?"

"Is what true?" Soul asked.

Silver's eyes narrowed. "Team Rocket. Have they returned? They say that they were down in the Slowpoke well when a young woman and her Quilava chased them out."

"I helped too," Marius said. Silver shot him a glare so fierce he immediately hid behind Soul's leg, whimpering.

A surge of anger welled up in Soul's stomach. She took a step towards Silver and snapped, "Yeah, that was me. What's it to you?"

"Hah! Quit lying," Silver growled, uncrossing his arms and starting to look dangerous. "You're too gentle. They would have cut your throat if you'd gone anywhere near them."

"Well, they didn't." Soul retorted. "I don't get why you care. You're a Pokemon thief, same as them."

Silver lashed out and grabbed Soul's wrist. The girl gasped in pain when his fingernails sank into her skin and her very bone buckled under the sudden pressure.

"Don't _ever _compare me to those parasites!" Silver snarled. "They're weak and disgusting cowards. They act tough when they're in a group, as if that makes them kings, when one by one they're pathetic. Leeching off their boss."

Soul flinched and stared back at the other boy, trying to process the sudden expression of _hatred. _She could see it in his eyes; he hated Team Rocket down to his very core.

Suddenly, the words of the Elder came back to her – _rage that powerful always has a source. _Looking into his bright, burning silver eyes, Soul saw a flash of something. Deep behind the rage.

Pain.

Suddenly, Silver let go of her with a curse. Soul snapped out of her daze to see Lucian had gotten between them and bitten the boy's leg.

"Unhand her!" Lucian said furiously. "Alined with Team Rocket or not, no one threatens my trainer!"

"Lucian-" Soul started.

Silver flinched as he put weight on his injured leg and glared at her Pokemon. "Fine," He growled. "If that's how it is. Gastly!"

A bolt of panic struck Soul. She hadn't prepared for a battle! She only had one healing item left from the gym!

"Gastly, Curse!" Silver ordered.

Soul gasped when the opposing Pokemon let out a distorted cackling noise; Lucian collapsed a moment later, whimpering.

"Stop!" Soul cried, "That could kill him!"

Silver scowled. "Then forfeit," He snapped.

"Don't, Soul." Lucian said, pushing himself back to his paws. "I'll be fine." Rearing back, he used ember. The Gastly's HP had been halved by curse, so the ghost Pokemon went down. Lucian had only a moment to be satisfied before the weight of the curse knocked him down again.

Silver scoffed and took out his next Pokeball. "Your Pokemon won't even listen to you," He informed her. "It's a wonder you've gotten so far. Victor! You're up!"

"Lucian, come back!" Soul shouted, immediately taking out his Pokeball. Lucian had started to object before the red light pulled him back. "Mew, who should I send out..."

"Don't hurt uncle Luke!" Marius bleated, running out onto the battlefield between Soul and Victor. The Totodile had evolved, and he had nearly four levels on her little Mareep.

"Marius, no! Be careful!" Soul barely had time to say this before Victor headbutted Marius, causing him to stumble backwards.

The Crocanaw took one menacing step forward...and froze, crackles of electricity skitting across his body. Soul nearly crumpled with relief when she recognized paralysis.

"You idiot!" Silver shouted at his Pokemon. "Never tackle a Mareep! They have Static!"

Marius righted himself and looked up at Victor. He was justifiably intimidated, but he swallowed and braced himself, before using Thundershock. Victor howled and stumbled backwards, the attack doing a third of his health. He gave Marius a menacing look, prompting the smaller Pokemon to slow down...though it wasn't enough to deter him. Marius unleashed all the thunder he had, bringing Victor down to the red.

Victor's eyes were burning, whether from the shocks or humiliation Soul couldn't be sure. He glanced back at Silver, who was glaring at him.

Marius's ears lit up again; Victor lunged at the much smaller Pokemon at the same time. Soul flinched, but with another burst of electricity the water starter went down.

"W...Wow, Marius!" Soul cheered, amazed. Marius beamed at her and started wagging his tail quickly.

Silver's eyes narrowed into slits. "Worthless idiot," He said though his teeth, calling Victor back.

"Hey!" Soul said, temporarily distracted from her Pokemon's victory. "That's not fair to him, and you know that! He was in a battle against an electric type!"

"He had four levels on your mouse!" Silver retorted. "He would have overwhelmed him if he hadn't decided to act like an idiot." With another flash of light, a Zubat appeared. "Supersonic!"

"Be careful, Marius!" Soul called as her Pokemon stumbled around, disoriented.

Marius put both his front paws down directly in front of him and swung his head from side to side. When the Zubat dived at him, the cones on his ears lit up and sent the bat Pokemon sprawling. Marius waited until the opponent started circling him again, twitching his ears back and forth. The Zubat just got within biting distance when Marius's fur lit up like lights, blasting the Pokemon out of the sky.

"You did great, Marius!" Soul said, bouncing on her heels. She didn't think she'd ever seen a Pokemon shake off confusion like that.

Silver said nothing as he called the Zubat back. Soul snapped her fingers, calling Marius back to her, and watched him apprehensively.

"...I hate the weak." He said.

"What is your _problem_?" Soul exclaimed, stepping in front of him and blocking his way out of Azaela.

Silver's eyes narrowed. "Get out of my way."

Soul crossed her arms, determinedly ignoring the frantic pounding of her heart, the fact that Silver was at least a head taller then her and likely stronger, and met the boy's stony gaze.

"Really! Every time I see you, you've done nothing but rant about power and hurt anyone who looks at you sideways. What is so important that you have to act like a vicious criminal? Victor fought an electric type for you after you stole him, just because you asked him too, and you don't even care!" She exclaimed.

Silver skewered her with his glare. "Will caring save anyone?"

Soul hesitated. She had a fleeting image of Don, but shook her head to clear it.

"Bonds between people make then stronger." Soul said confidently. Silver's free hand clenched, his gaze becoming scornful.

Soul realized she sounded like a speaker for a little kid's show and changed tactics. That wouldn't convince anyone – it wouldn't have convinced her, if she'd heard it from someone else.

"I think people lean on each other so they can achieve things that they wouldn't be able to alone." She amended, before taking a breath and saying more quietly and sincerely;

"I remember... before I – came here," she bit down on revealing her true origin at the last second, "I never would have done the things I have now. Because I have my Pokemon, my friends, I was able to start changing who I was. Pull myself out of a bad place I'd been in."

Soul looked back at Silver's expression. The boy had schooled his face into an impassive mask in record time, but his eyes flashed with something other then the wrath that seemed to characterize him. It was too fleeting for her to wonder what it could be, though Soul wouldn't rule out amusement or contempt just yet.

"...Does that make sense to you?" She asked after the uncertain silence continued for a moment longer then she could bear.

Silver scoffed, shaking his head."Sentimental drivel. People say love and caring is important, but it makes you _weak _at the moments you need to be _strong_. I intend not to make that mistake-."

He paused and stopped talking very suddenly, biting off the end of his sentence. His hand tightened on Zubat's Pokeball until his knuckles whitened.

"I'm going to get stronger. Then I will destroy every last one of them." Silver's voice had dropped until Soul strained to hear it. "Stay out of my way, or you won't be an exception to that."

He pushed past her and disappeared into the forest. Soul let out her breath, her heart still pounding from the confrontation. She was about to go after him when a yip from Marius caught her attention.

"Mom! I'm glowing!"

Soul spun around. Sure enough, Marius's small body had begun to glow brightly, as though he'd been covered with fireflies! Soul gaped for a moment, before quickly digging out her Pokedex and going to Marius's page.

Her Mareep had hit the level requirement for evolving, and she hadn't even realized it!

The light grew blinding and then burst apart, falling down into small sparkles all around Marius. The kid was now standing on his hind legs, his fur having been coloured pink in the transformation. The wool had vanished from around his stomach, but now concentrated on his head and his neck.

"I got big!" Marius cheered. Soul grinned and hurried over to him. Marius's height had doubled, causing his head to reach her stomach. Soul hugged her Flaaffy, thinking to herself that he looked a lot like his mother.

"Well done, Marius." Lucian said warmly, limping slightly as he rejoined the group. He was still very pale and sick-looking from the curse the Gastly had put on him, but he was no longer in immediate danger. "You were very brave."

"You look splendid, darling!" Emma cheered, while Eren snorted before his mouth twitched into what might have been a smile.

Soul knelt down in front of Lucian and said, "Lucian, you scared me to death. When we're in battle, I _need _you to listen to me!"

She couldn't remember having ever gotten angry at him before, but the Gastly's wail as it cursed him was still ringing in her ears. She hated that he had risked himself more then necessary and that he could have ended up like Don.

"You're my friend, but I'm still your trainer." She said. "Please, Lucian."

Lucian bowed his head, looking ashamed. "I'm sorry, Soul. My emotions compromised my good judgement. I can still feel the spectre's malice in my bones...I will be more careful."

"I don't like the sound of that." Soul said firmly. "C'mon, guys. Let's get you two looked at at the Center. We won but I don't want to take any chances, especially since the Gastly used Curse."

/

"Well, all your Pokemon are in good shape." The Nurse told Soul, who was tapping her fingers on the edge of the counter as her Pokeballs were placed in front of her one by one. "Mind the ghost types. Curse will loose most of its power if the ghost who cast it faints or vanishes into the beyond, but its touch and linger and haunt its victims. Be wary of that trainer."

Soul nodded, absorbing the information. If she was honest with herself, she would admit that ghost types were terrifying, even more then bug types. It frightened her to consider that she effectively had no counters to the malicious shades, and if Lucian would be affected by the curse in the long run, she never wanted it to happen again.

She needed a ghost counter before she reached Morty's gym.

More immediately, she was thinking about Silver. He had gone into Illex Forest about an hour ago, but his leg was injured and the place was pretty big. If there was a chance she could catch up with him, she should, especially since he hadn't stopped off at the centre.

Admittedly, Soul wasn't exactly sure what she would do once she caught up with him – he wasn't the type to come quietly and Soul was very skittish at the idea of having her Pokemon incapacitate him, afraid they'd do him serious injury or even kill him. She hadn't seen what Pokemon moves did to a human and she wasn't keen to find out, even to stop a thief.

However, after that confrontation Soul was even more determined to find him. She didn't understand why or what was driving him and the fact was nettling her to no end. He had to be about her age, and while teenagers could be ornery she had never seen one so driven by anger and bitterness.

And the flashes of sadness...those fleeting looks haunted her. Something was terribly _wrong _for him, and damn it all if she knew what it was, but she wanted to find out.

"Thank you," She said, summoning Lucian, Emma, Marius and Eren. She also didn't have a full team. These four were her core team, but the Pokemon she kept meeting just didn't have the strength to go all the way to the league. Soul wanted as much type coverage as possible; but she was also thinking long term. Whoever she picked, they had to be powerful.

Right now, she wanted a psychic type. She had one option.

Sighing, Soul walked over to the PC and opened it. Sure enough, the screen showed Elm's Sanctuary, where Marlo was playing around, Jade was sulking, and Sarah was floating about. She opened Marlo's stat board.

"Hm...well, decent attack and special attack, but Togetic's movepool is lacking. My kingdom for a Shiny Stone..." Soul looked down at the ability list...and her jaw dropped. Marlo's ability was Serene Grace!

_How did I not notice that before?! _She thought, both overjoyed and furious with herself. She pounded the 'Move' key so hard it nearly cracked; with a few beeps and a moment of waiting a Pokeball appeared from the transfer tube and dropped into her hand.

Punching the button, Marlo appeared in her hands. Grinning, Soul made her way back to her teammates.

"Guys, this is Marlo." She said. "He has an ability that is going to come in mighty handy for the next gym. And we have another reason to comb the Illex Forest."

"What's that?" Emma asked curiously.

Soul smirked. "While we're looking for Silver, we're bound to run into a gentlemen who can teach Headbutt."

"Yay! I'll be the best Togekiss ever!" Marlo said enthusiastically.

/

It was late evening once again when Soul and her band of Pokemon were prepared to travel through the Illex Forest. Marlo had become acquainted with everyone quickly enough, given that they would be doing the heavy lifting for his training. He, like Marius, considered Soul 'mommy' because she had hatched his egg.

Marius had been a bit confused by this, until Marlo decided that since Soul had hatched him too, that made Marius 'big brother'. Marius was taking the duties the small Pokemon had bestowed on him very seriously, doing most of the switch training for him. Lucian was minding Marius while Emma flew around, trying to gain experience off the local bug Pokemon.

Soul allowed her Pokemon to manage themselves, keeping one ear on them as she looked around, taking the forest in.

The Illex was beautiful, and there was something in the air that made the entire place hum with power. Soul wondered if she was imagining it at first, but the feeling was persistent as she walked about, herding up some Farfetched for a hapless wood cutter. The late evening light cast long shadows on the grass; there was a wind that tugged at her hair and made her feel like someone was trying to speak to her. Soul felt like she was walking into someone's home. Not just any home, but but the home of someone powerful and mysterious.

She picked up a new teammate – Boris, the Kakuna – on the way back to the entrance of the forest. None of her current team could learn cut, except for Lucian, and Soul refused to saddle him with a move that would be useless in the long run. Luckily, Boris was willing to learn it in exchange for being trained until he evolved into Beedrill.

Boris sliced through the thick vines that had blocked the path deeper into the forest. Soul was looking around, half hoping and half nervous to see a flash of red in the trees or the sight of a Crocanaw. However, there had been no sightings in the first part of the forest and there were no signs that others had travelled this way.

"There's no sign of him," Lucian said quietly. There was no need for a name.

"I didn't really expect him to hang around," Soul admitted. "I just thought he might have been slowed down by his leg..." She frowned down at Lucian. "You didn't hurt him that badly, did you?"

"I'm...not sure." Lucian admitted, sounding ashamed and angry at himself. "I certainly didn't use my full strength, but I hadn't been thinking clearly."

"Oh, I wouldn't be too worried." Emma said dryly, sending another Paras scuttling into the grass to hide. "I doubt someone as mad and driven as Silver would let little things like blood loss and injury slow him down. If he's survived out here by himself for this long, he's fine."

"I just wish I knew what he wanted..." Soul sighed. "It's been nagging me ever since we ran into him."

Boris sliced through the last of the vines. Soul stepped through the thick trees and looked around in wonder.

A small chapel was sitting in the middle of the forest, doors closed, light glowing behind the glass window. It looked quite old; it had likely been sitting there for generations. Something was carved onto the sides of it, but it was written in Unown letters. Soul took a hesitant step closer...it looked like something was moving inside, before the lights flared and it was gone.

_Did I imagine that?_

Soul's breath hitched; for a moment she was struck by the same sensation she had right before the shadow Pokemon appeared to her, all the way back in her own world.

_...Soul..._

She looked around frantically, but neither the powerful winds or the rushing of water that had happened last time stirred in the deep forest. But the whispers she had thought were the wind were louder; now she was sure of them.

_...Silver girl..._

"Hello?" She called, looking around. Her Pokemon's ears pricked; Lucian walked up to the chapel and bowed his head before it.

A girlish giggle echoed across the treetops. Looking around, Soul asked quietly, "Guys, what is this place?"

"This is the shrine of Celebi." Lucian responded.

"Celebi...?" Soul murmured, walking over to join him. Marius and Marlo stopped training on Kakuna to join Lucian, lying down on the grass.

"The Time Travel Legendary." Lucian answered. "She flies through time, making sure that it flows as it should. Helps keep our world from breaking apart."

Soul knelt down in front of the shrine. The giggle sounded familiar...had Celebi brought her here?

"Is she here...now?" She asked, staring into the faintly glowing shrine.

"I doubt it." Eren said. Soul looked at him in surprise; he had been very quiet ever since they had entered the forest "She rarely appears here unless the need is dire, or circumstances are strange. No one in Azaela has seen her in years, and they're the ones who take care of her shrine."

_...be careful..._

"Is that her?" Soul blurted out when the whisper came again.

Lucian looked up and around. "I cannot hear anything, Soul." He murmured.

Soul looked around, sure she'd heard the voice...it sounded like the one she had seen in the white light. _Please. Tell me why I'm here._

...

But the whispers were fading. A strong wind blew through the trees, and the night grew dimmer. Soul realized they should probably get going.

/

When her Pokemon went to sleep, Soul called them back into their Pokeballs and kept walking. The night was colder then the last; Autumn was creeping over the region. It dark in the woods; so Soul was carrying a lantern that the two woodcutters had given her after rounding up their pokemon earlier.

Her head tormented her for not sleeping. Soul would have given just about anything for a few Advil at that moment. The forest was atmospheric; she could hear Spinarak clicking as they made their nests and the wind made the trees groan and sing as she made her way through the woods.

The Headbutt guy wasn't hard to find; the crashing of his attacks on the tree of his choice had stuck out against the silence and peace of the forest like a siren. Marlo, Eren and Marius all learned Headbutt where Tackle had been, since the other move was stronger and had a chance of flinching that was raised by Marlo's Serene Grace.

There was no sign of Silver either; Soul wasn't sure whether to be relieved or worried about this. With nothing else to focus on except trying to follow the path in the dark, her mind had fixated on him. She wondered if he had tended to his injury, of if he had been stubborn and let it get worse...

_Why am I worried about him all of a sudden? _Soul wondered, berating herself. _He's still a thief and a danger to people who aren't careful around him. Maybe he does have some issues, but why should that affect my need to bring him in and get Victor back to the Professor? _

She picked up the pace a bit, her shoes squeaking whenever they sank into mud. _Yeah, maybe he's the first guy I've ever had multiple conversations with, but that doesn't mean anything, except maybe comment on how much I fail at social interaction. Maybe I have this weird desire to help him, but I have to help the professor first!_

A flash of red in the dark. Soul's heart skipped, wondering if she had found him, but as her eyes focused in the dark she realized that it wasn't Silver.

It was one of the Kimono Girls.

Heart hammering, Soul suddenly remembered something Professor Elm had said a long time ago - _"The Kimono girls said that was your name, but you never know with them and their mysticism talk." _

_Do _they _know why I'm here? _

Soul ran through the trees and burst into the clearing where the woman was standing, terrified that she would disappear like a ghost, leaving her with too many unanswered questions. The Kimono Girl started and turned around and the noise, but relaxed the instant she saw Soul.

"Oh, poor Kimono Girl, lost in the forest." She said mournfully. "The moon is hidden and I cannot see my way."

"Um, excuse me!" Soul said nervously. The Kimono Girl tilted her head, indicating she was listening. "A-Aren't you the same lady I met back in Violet City?"

The Kimono Girl blinked. The movement was fast and almost kind of creepy, like she was seeing something other then the world around her. "No. I have never been to Violet."

Soul glanced behind the woman. The twisting path lead onwards, likely towards the exit. "Do you need help getting out of here?" She ventured.

The Kimono Girl beamed. "Oh, you will show me out? How kind of you."

Bobbling her head, not sure what else to say, Soul started to lead the older woman down the beaten path. The silence between them was pervading until Soul couldn't bear it any longer.

"How did I get here?" She turned around to face the woman. "Why? Did you bring me here? Professor Elm mentioned you when I first woke up in that freaky house."

"We only asked the moon and the sun for guidance, and what their bidding is," The Kimono Girl responded enigmatically. "The moon brought you here."

"The...moon?" Soul responded blankly. _What kind of answer is that?_

The path continued, and the Kimono Girl made a noise of delight. Soul blinked and turned her attention back to the path. Silver light was painting the sidewalk, which had turned to stone not far away from them. They had reached the edge of Illex.

"Thank you very much," The Kimono Girl said. "You have my gratitude. May the moon and sun watch over you, silver girl."

"Wait!" Soul protested, but the woman walked out of the forest and seemed to vanish into thin air.

Soul stared after her. "...I still don't understand." She finished to empty air. Sighing, she walked towards the exit of the forest.

_One step of the journey is done, another begins. _

**End Chapter**

_**More interaction between Soul and Silver for the win! To be perfectly honest, the Kimono Girls really unnerved me the first time I played the game and I wasn't sure why. I'll reveal more about them when the time is right.**_

_**Catch - Boris the Kakuna, docile nature, level 5**_


	9. Chapter 9

**Moonlight and Fire, a SoulSilver Storylocke**

**_Wanda: I'm back! On today's nuzlocke, our merry band makes it to Goldenrod City and a whole bunch of crap happens, some good and some bad. Like, teamkiller bad. Arceus, I hate the level curve in Johto. I dread grinding for the Elite Four and beyond...(shudders) Anyway, I don't own Pokemon and here we go!_  
**

**Chapter 9: Goldenrod City**

Soul's back ached, but she was slightly more comfortable then she would have been otherwise. She was lying down on a bench with one arm over her eyes, catching a shallow nap between counting the stars until the sun rose and chased the stars away.

The Pokemon world had different constellations from her own. When her insomnia had first kicked in, she had comforted herself at night by looking up at the stars and seeing how many she could recognize. The different stars was a painful kick of unfamiliarity after one of the longest bouts she'd had since coming here. Instead of breaking down crying – which had been so tempting at first, but in the end she didn't want to worry her Pokemon when they woke up – Soul resolved to see if she could find new constellations in the sky. By the time the sun was up, she had found one that looked like Bulbasaur.

Rubbing her eyes and vainly trying to soothe her headache, Soul sat up and stretched. It would have been faster to say which part of her didn't have cramps or pins and needles, but a little rest was better then no rest at all.

Grabbing her Pokeballs, she let her team out. They all appeared in front of her, fast asleep, though they woke not long after she summoned them. Soul smiled; they all looked adorable asleep.

"Wake up, everyone." She said, more cheerfully then she felt. "We're on our way to Goldenrod. It's a beautiful day for training, so let's get started!"

Lucian got up and stretched. Marlo had to be nudged awake by Marius, while Emma and Eren woke up the easiest.

"We're out of the forest." Lucian noticed, looking questioningly at her.

Soul shrugged. "You guys were tired, but I couldn't sleep. So I did the rest of the walking by myself – didn't run into anything, which was strange but nice."

"Thanks, mom." Marius said, nuzzling her leg. Soul blinked and looked down at him, petting his head. "That place was kinda scary."

"I felt weird there." Marlo chipped in. "I'm not psychic yet, but I kept feeling something on the edges of my mind, like someone was trying to talk to me."

Soul sat on the edge of the bench an said, "I thought I was hearing whispering out there! Did you understand anything?"

Marlo looked crestfallen. "No. I'm not old enough yet. Sorry mommy."

Soul was disappointed, but shook her head to clear it. "It's okay, Marlo. I ran into one of those Kimono Girls again, and I think they know why I'm here." Muttering under her breath, she added, "Even if they don't feel like sharing."

"The colour ladies are weird," Was Marius's input.

"Definitely," Soul agreed. "Let's get to training."

"Thank goodness," Emma sighed. "Those bugs gave no experience at all."

/

"EREN!" Soul yelled.

The trainer's Snubbel was the most vicious Pokemon Soul had seen owned by a trainer, barring Rocket Pokemon. When Eren had set up to fight it, it had jumped on him and tried to maul him to death. Eren grunted and called in light with Synthesis, before spitting Bullet Seed down the offending Pokemon's throat, winning the match by a thin margin.

Soul was seething as she healed Eren while the other trainer apologized over and over. "I don't know what's up with him!" The man said frantically. "He went missing for a few weeks, and came back like something had given him Pokerus! The daycare people have been trying to get him to mellow out, but but he's still so ornery...I am so, so sorry!"

Soul did her best to reign her temper in once Eren was fully healthy again. "I'm fine, girl." He said. "I'm not dying to a savage puppy."

"You said he went missing for a few weeks?" Soul asked, frowning. If the man was telling the truth – and it looked like he was – then she doubted the Subbel had been 'missing' on its own accord. "Then he started acting up?"

"Yes," The man said, his shoulders sagging. "He's so much less friendly now. We were close before. I don't know what happened."

Soul nudged Eren onto her shoulder so he could rest for a bit before saying, "You should keep a close eye on your Pokemon. Some Team Rocket grunts were seen back in Azaela."

The man's eyes widened. "Team Rocket? The Pokethieves? But I thought Red put a stop to them!"

"He did. They must be trying for a comeback." Soul responded. "I'm willing to bet that's the source of your problem. Sorry."

The man sighed. "That would make sense. My poor Snubbel...I should probably take him back for another stretch in the Daycare."

"Day Care?" Soul echoed. "For Pokemon?"

The man nodded. "Yeah." He pointed down the road. "Right there, there's an old couple who take care of Pokemon for trainer's who have to go off, or are weaker so they don't want to risk switch training. You should check it out, if you're training up now. It'd be a good idea – gym leader Whitney's here, and she takes no prisoners."

Soul shuddered. "I've heard. Thank you."

"Eren, we almost lost you!" Lucian said, rushing over from where he had been fighting Drowsee to level up. "Are you alright?"

Eren shrugged as much as he could, though Soul could feel him shaking slightly on her shoulder. "I'll be fine. I'm very glad right now that Soul made me keep Synthesis."

"So am I." Soul said, shoulder's slumping in relief. "We _definitely _need to level up. _Much _more."

"I agree." Lucian said. "Perhaps it would be prudent to find as many trainers as we can. Training, it seems, is difficult around here."

Soul nodded. "Let's go, everyone."

/

"Whooo-hoo!" Eren whooped as he was surrounded by white light. With a flash, he transformed into his second form.

"Great job, Eren!" Soul beamed. She was standing on the road while her entire team stalked through the grass, finding wild Drowsee to ambush. Those Pokemon gave off the most experience by far, so they were the ones she was going to rely on for training. She spotted Marius having some difficulties and said, "Marius, come here. You need a potion."

Marius wilted a bit, but scampered back to her side.

"You're doing _fine_," Soul added encouragingly. "I just want you to be careful."

"At last!" Lucian said exuberantly, spinning across the ground as flames wreathed his body. "I have an attack worthy of our quest."

"Looking good, Lucian." Soul said, petting him on the head. "This is great." She squinted at the Pokedex. "Emma, are you doing alright? Experience gain seems to be going slowly for you."

Emma floated over to her and stopped, panting. "I ask that we find stronger opponents." She said. "Or we'll be here forever."

Soul put her hands in her pockets and thought for a minute. "Well, I suppose we can go further north. There should be trainers up there..."

/

In hindsight, Soul supposed it should have been obvious that someone is going to go wrong soon.

They spent three days in Goldenrod just training for the gym. Suddenly, everything seemed to be much closer in level to her team then they had been a scant few paths ago.

It sort of made sense, given that Goldenrod was the hub of Johto a lot of trainers would come here to test their skills, but the sudden uptake in difficulty was not well received by the team, or by Soul.

For one thing, she was practically broke. Buying a Super Potions for the gym practically exhausted the money she had remaining from defeating Bugsy and the trainers in Illex. Fewer healing items meant a lot of trips to the centre whenever someone got injured. Soul was so grateful for the day care; she was kind of scared of levelling Marlo up with the level jump in the area. The lady was Ethan's grandmother and she was happy to take care of the young Togepi.

Another thing was that it seemed as though everything and its mother was scoring critical damage that seemed to do much more damage then it should. Soul had had to drag Emma away from a battle against a Rattata that scored to critical bites in a row, leaving her seriously injured. She then yanked Marius out of a fight with a Picknicker when a similar incident occurred. Soul was at her wits end, even before she realized she was very under prepared for Whitney's gym.

Soul was at her wit's end even before she considered that she didn't have a counter for Milktank. Hopefully, there would be something in the nearby grass that she would be able to catch who could help.

Going out north of Goldenrod had seemed like a good idea at the time, because there were a number of trainers milling around. Soul stocked up as best she could and challenged the road. It didn't occur to her that others might be as paranoid as she had been.

/

"You're going to kill my Marill!"

"I'm not!" Soul promised through gritted teeth. She was facing a Camper with a Marril with Emma up front. The boy was throwing a fit, eyes wild as though he was facing down a Rocket Grunt. Had he lost someone before? Soul didn't have time to dwell on it. "Emma, put it to sleep. I'm on my last nerve here..."

"I won't let you!" The boy shrieked. "You're all crazy! Marill, Rollout!"

"It'll be fine, Soul." Emma said. She followed the Marill with her piercing stare, brows furrowing as she tried to get a lock on the other Pokemon. It seemed bent on going in circles instead of attacking. "I'll catch it when it turns around."

Eren made a noise. Suddenly, he hurtled off Soul's shoulder and cannoned into Emma, knocking her out of the way. A second later, Soul saw what he had seen – the Marill had been building up for the final attack, and Emma was weak to rock.

Eren took the full brunt of the attack. The blow shredded his wings and nearly tore him in half.

Soul lost her voice. The world blurred; she saw Marius attack and defeat the Marill out of the corner of her eye and a police officer walk over to see what the commotion was about, but her attention was on Eren.

His body was riddled with pebbles and scars and blood. Emma wailed in distress and nudged him with her nose.

"Eren?" Soul whimpered, reaching out and brushing her hand against his forehead.

"...Go..." Eren whispered, his voice husky. "...Go get them...Soul. Avenge...us all. ...Good luck..."

He closed his eyes and said no more.

/

Soul was numb.

She was sitting with her back against the wall in the lowtown apartment she had rented earlier that week. She had been crying for a long time, and her muscles were stiff. Sighing, she brushed her palm against her wet cheeks.

It had been several weeks since they had lost Don Ramon, but this death made Soul feel like more of a failure then she had before, mostly because she couldn't figure out what she had done wrong! She thought she had levelled her team enough to keep them safe against the trainers on the route, and since when did _anyone _teach their Marill rollout before it evolved?!

Eren's last words haunted her. _Avenge us all_. He wouldn't live to see Team Rocket dismantled for their crimes, and it was her fault...if only she'd been more careful...she had known that Marill _could _learn rollout, but she thought it was something they got later...

She buried him in the grass outside of the city. What she saw was going to haunt her in her dreams.

The graveyard was gigantic. So many Pokemon had died here, and a lot of their headstones had listed them as having lost their lives to Whitney's Milktank. So she had lost a friend, and she _still _didn't know what she was going to do about that monster.

So many deaths..._avenge us all. _

_How can I do that when I can barely keep my own Pokemon safe?_

Lucian had taken the loss the hardest, and was now asleep on the bed. Soul didn't mind letting him use it for now. As the leader, he felt personally responsible for everyone on the team.

Emma was beside herself with guilt, believing herself to be directly responsible for Eren's death. She had flown off to hide in the treetops, not being able to bear remaining in the team's presence. Soul hoped that she wouldn't go too far. She wouldn't be able to handle loosing another close teammate just after this.

The door squeaked open. Soul blinked, the her vision blurry, to see Marius slowly pad into the room. He walked over to her and snuggled under her arm, like he had back when he was a Mareep. Soul accepted his presence without a word.

"Mom?"

"Yes, Marius?"

"I'm gonna miss him..."

"So will I. I'm sorry." Soul whispered, hugging him closely.

Marius bleated a bit and nuzzled her. "I'm gonna get stronger, then I'm gonna beat the Rockets. Uncle Eren would have wanted that." He said.

Soul swallowed. "Yeah. I guess you're right." She brushed her fingers against his fleece.

"Hey, mom?" Marius said. Soul looked down at him. He looked at her with blue eyes still shiny with tears, but they were clearer then the rest of her teams. Soul really didn't want to explain this to Marlo when she went back for him.

"Yeah?"

"I hate seeing you so sad, mom." Marius said. "I want you to smile again. There...there's a game corner in this town. How about you go there for a while? I'll make sure everyone's alright."

Soul blinked several times, and rubbed the tears away from her eyes with one hand. She looked down at Marius, who while grieving himself, was trying to make her feel better. Though her heart felt like stone, she knew she had to humour him at least. "Okay. Thank you, Marius."

/

Soul walked through Goldenrod and found the Game Corner pretty easily – the bright lights and the announcer calling for people to try their luck was a pretty big giveaway. That and even with the golden lights in the city the place was pretty extravagant.

"Come right in!" The doorman said pleasantly, handing her a Coin Case. "Try your luck at Voltorb Flip and win some amazing prizes, both TMs and Pokemon!"

"You have Pokemon here?" Soul asked, curious despite her mood.

"Of course! Go ask the Prize Gentlemen by the panel over there." The main pointed her towards the back of the building, where there was a counter and two older gentlemen standing and waiting for her. Listlessly Soul walked over the counter.

"Hello." The first man said. "Is it your first time here?"

"Yes." Soul said.

The man smiled and pressed a button. The shelves opened to reveal some cages and boxes containing TMs. "You're looking rather down, miss. A few rounds of Voltorb Flip can help you take your mind off it, and these are what you can get for them."

Soul looked around the cages. _Huh, flamethrower would be nice...but that's ten thousand coins. That would take forever. I suppose if I want to kill time – _her eyes drifted over to the Pokemon cages and her heart froze in her chest.

It was a small, slender blue Pokemon with wings on its head. In her entire playthroughs back at home, she had only seen a few belonging to Elite Four dragon master Lance, and he had been the hardest opponent in any Elite Four aside from Cynthia.

Soul choked and pointed at the cage. "Is – is that a Dratini?"

The man smiled. "Oh yes. The boy's young, but he's got a lot of potential! He's a recent import, too, from Blackthrone city."

"H-How much for him?" Soul asked, her heart pounding.

"2,100 coins." The prize man responded. He pointed to a large green table with glowing cards. "Over there is Mr. Game, with the special on Voltorb Flip. You can play as many times as you like, but loose too many times and you have to start over at level one."

Soul looked over at the Dratini, who had raised his head and was looking between her and the game masters. Calmly brushing her head behind one ear, she marched over to the VoltorbFlip table and sat down.

/

BOOM. Another Voltorb went off. Groaning, Soul hit her head against the desk as the game dropped from level five to level three again. "Why is this so hard?!" She said in exasperation as the game master laughed. The coin case was sitting on her knees, holding 2,000 coins. She was almost there, but she kept picking voltorbs! It was an exercise in frustration.

Soul glanced back towards the Prize Table. The Dratini was sitting right there, waiting for her. She was almost there! Just 100 more coins, as long as she didn't hit another voltorb...

Her eyes narrowing, Soul leaned over the table again and glared down at the panel. Taking in the numbers, she started to click boxes...three...four...five...six...there!

"YES!" She yelled, springing to her feet as the panel lit up and coins flew down the tube under the table into her case. She was even 500 coins above the requirement! Beaming, Soul snapped the case shut and bolted over to the table.

"This is enough, isn't it?!" Soul demanded, gesturing towards the Dratini. The man laughed at her enthusiasm and unlocked the cage. Soul's heart was pounding as he brought the Pokemon over to her.

"Here he is." The man said cheerfully. "Take good care of him."

"Yes!" Soul cheered, cradling her new acquisition in her arms. The Dratini had green eyes and he was staring at in a way that made them look very shiny.

/

"Do you have a name?"

Soul was sitting on a bench in the city again, running a careful hand across her Dratini's scale. He was level fifteen and completely adorable; having a dragon type this early in the journey was wonderful because they could reach their final evolution in time to help her with the worst of her journey.

A bunch of passerby's gaped at her, and understandably – dragon types were very rare. A couple of kids ran up to her and asked to pet him, and had to be shooed away by their parents. The energy had numbed the grief of Eren's death like Marius had hoped; though Soul had by no means forgotten.

The Pokedex had given her another reason to celebrate – the little dragon knew both Thunder Wave and Dragon Rage. Soul had just found her answer to Whitney's Milktank.

This Dratini, on the other hand, was very shy, so right now he was doing his best to hide in Soul's arms.

"...No..." He squeaked.

Soul frowned slightly. "Why not? Everyone has a name."

"Not special enough." The Dratini sniffed. "Just got sold, away from my papa. They didn't want me there. None of the cage Pokemon have names."

"That's awful," Soul said softly. "Why wouldn't they want you?"

The Dratini hung his head. "They said mommy was sick with something, so I might be sick too. So they sent me away."

_So the dragon types in Blackthrone don't have Nuzlocke? _Soul wondered. _How did they manage to avoid contamination?_

The Dratini began to whimper; Soul realized that he had been separated from his father because of the Nuzlocke. Fleetingly, she thought of her own father, and her heart hurt.

She looked down at her dragon sympathetically and smiled. "How about we give you a name then?"

The Dratini looked up at her, eyes wide. "You...you want me to have a name?"

"Sure. All my Pokemon have names, because they're my friends." Soul responded. She looked her new Pokemon over carefully. "Hmm...how about Edge? That sounds good to me. Do you like it?"

Edge had a starry look in his eyes as he watched her now. "I...I...It's very nice!" He raised his head happily and cried, "I'm Edge!"

"Yes you are," Soul said softly. He was so cute... She sat back in her chair, thinking about Eren once more, thinking about how awful it would be if Edge went the same way...

"Why are you sad?" Edge said. Soul blinked, realizing a tear had fallen from her eyes without her realizing it.

"I'm sorry, Edge." She apologized. "I lost someone soon, so I'm a...bit of a mess."

"Oh." Edge responded. He paused for a moment and then butted his head against her chin. "I'm sorry. Can I help? You helped me. I wanna help you."

Soul shook her head slightly to clear her head and said, "Are you sure, Edge? It'll be dangerous."

Edge shook his head. "I like you really, really a lot. You like me. You gave me a name. You don't mind that I might be sick. I wanna stay with you. And I wanna see my papa again."

Soul smiled slightly. It might be dangerous, but getting to Blackthron City was on her road, and Edge's Dragon Rage would be beyond helpful right now. "Okay. You can come."

"Yay!" Edge cheered, nuzzling her again. Soul giggled, feeling both happy and sad at the same time.

Standing up with Edge in her arms, she said, "I'd like to get a few more teammates before we start training for Whitney's gym." She said. "I've heard nothing but horror stories about that Milktank, and I haven't had much luck with catches so far. Let's see if my luck holds out."

Edge merely glowed at being called lucky.

/

There were two routes and a lot of grass between Goldenrod and Ecruteak City. Soul and Edge waded through the grass in front of the park, Soul looking around warily for any trainers who might ambush them.

"Oh! Look over there! I see someone!" Edge said happily. The little dragon type was desperate to please Soul and had become very energetic after receiving his name. Soul followed his gaze to see...a male Nidoran, lying against a tree trunk.

For a moment, Soul almost wanted to leave, remembering that Don had been killed by a trainer's Nidoran.

_Wait. _She furrowed her brows and looked more closely. The Nidoran was injured, and it didn't hold itself the same way the killer had. _It wouldn't be fair to avoid a whole line just because of one trainer's Pokemon...besides, with double kick he'd be a huge help against Whitney. _

Pushing down her reservation, Soul nodded at Edge. "Good call, Edge. Let's go get him."

She walked through the rest of the grass with Edge on her heels, until she was standing in front of the tree. The Nidoran was licking his foreleg, which had a nasty-looking gash on it. He looked battered and half-starved, too.

"Hello." Soul said, crouching down in front of him.

The Nidoran looked up and frowned at her. "What do you want?" He said flatly. "Go away. I don't need pity."

"...I wasn't offering any," Soul said, a bit put off by the Pokemon's chilliness. There was something in his voice that reminded her of Silver.

"You're a trainer," The Nidoran responded sulkily. "You lot have got no respect for how us Pokemon run our world."

"Enlighten me, then." Soul said, doing her best to sound patient.

"My father was captured by some trainer who didn't take a second to consider how taking away the alpha would completely disrupt the hordes." The Nidoran said angrily. "I lost my rightful place to a bunch of upstarts, and now I have no way of reclaiming it."

"Oh." Soul said, pretending she understood. "I'm sorry about that. Hey...how badly are you hurt?"

"I'm fine," The Nidoran responded hotly. He sprang to his feet to prove it...and promptly collapsed again, grunting in pain. Soul shook her head slightly and dug a potion out of her bag. She sprayed it across the surprised Pokemon's injured legs, sealing a number of fang marks on all four legs.

"Oh..." The Nidoran said, surprised. A second later, he rearranged his face into the proud expression he had on a moment before.

He regarded her for a moment before saying, "In gratitude for your kindness, I suppose I could take you on as a vessel."

Soul was tempted to snicker, but swallowed it at the last second. "Thank you. I'm Soul, and this is Edge." She nodded towards the Dratini. "I have other Pokemon, but they're waiting for us back at my hotel room. What's your name?"

The Nidoran raised his head proudly and declared, "I am Kaito, royal blood. I am the rightful king of the Horde...or I would be, if those upstarts hadn't taken advantage of my father's disappearance to seize my rightful place."

Kaito scowled and pawed at the ground. "If only I were more powerful; I'd be able to show them the error of that judgement."

Soul smiled. "Well, as it happens...all my Pokemon are going to get very strong. I'm on a quest to discover the source of Nuzlocke, and to make sure everyone stays safe, I train them. Anyone who stick with me will become a great warrior."

"Astute decision, vassal. I was right to select you before these other commoners," Kaito declared, ignoring the fact that Soul had approached him first. "Then do train me! At all haste!"

**End Chapter**

_**Goddamn Marills. Screw you, Johto. You have Emma miss twice with Hypnosis and then crit Eren, taking him from full health on the second rollout? That death annoyed me just as much as it made me sad. Grinding on Voltorb Flip to get Edge was very patience trying, but it was enough to distract me - after Eren's death I felt really disenheartened and almost wanted to stop. Kaito was a good catch as well - since I can't trade, Abra wouldn't have been any help. At least now I have a solution for Whitney.**_

_**RIP Eren the Skipbloom, level 5-10. I'm sorry you didn't get your revenge.**_

_**New Teammates: Edge the Dratini, Brave Nature, lv15. Kaito the Nidoran Male, lv12, Calm nature.**_


	10. Chapter 10

**Moonlight and Fire, a SoulSilver Storylocke**

**_Wanda: And I'm back. Whew. Sorry about the delay, but school started and I had a bout of writer's block, which was particularly bad for my Harry Potter stuff. Anyway, more of the plot shall become obvious in this chapter which lays the seeds for things that will happen later on! This chapter, Soul and her team takes on the murdercow! I do not own Pokemon._  
**

**Chapter 10: Whitney's Gym**

"Emma, is that you?" Soul asked in amazement.

The bird Pokemon had tripled in size upon becoming a Noctowl. Once able to sit comfortably on Soul's shoulder, Emma was now a good deal bigger then her trainer, with wide wings, a huge beak, and glowing eyes. Her feathers had turned golden-brown along her stomach and face, while her outer feathers were a much darker brown. Soul could easily see now that Emma would be capable of carrying her through the air.

"It's me," The now-Noctowl said self – consciously. Her large claws dug into the ground as she shifted her weight "I had a lot to think about last night...and I needed to stop being _weak_. I know you've been calling on me sparely recently because Lucian had already evolved, and was more useful...and I can't be responsible for another accident..."

Soul shook her head, she couldn't have Emma blaming herself for Eren's death anymore. "Eren chose to save you." She said. "It was nothing you did. Now, we have the choice of honouring his sacrifice or turning away."

This was the revelation that Soul had experienced while training Kaito. The scene had run over in her mind again and again as she struggled to understand it, until she came to a realization. Eren had chosen to save Emma, even though he knew that he might die. He decided that whatever Soul's future held, it was worth risking everything he had.

_Avenge us all_. Soul couldn't turn away from her duty to find where Nuzlocke came from, no matter what. Eren had been right about that...if he believed she could do it, enough to die, then she had to.

With some measure of peace, now, Soul brought herself back to the present when the door opened, Lucian and Marius appearing from inside.

The first thing Soul noticed was that Lucian was looking a little guilty, as well as tired. Soul knelt down and picked Lucian up in her arms, hugging her against his chest. He was pretty big now; after seeing Emma's evolution Soul didn't doubt that he would get a lot bigger too. But right now, she needed to comfort him, not speculate.

Lucian sighed and nudged her with his head. "Thank you, Soul." He said. "I'm sorry I left you to your grief."

In another time, Soul would have been frustrated at him to abandoning her right after Eren's death; back at home she had been a twisted emotional mess with a lot of resentment towards how difficult she'd thought her life was. However, her journey so far had given her much – needed perspective on the world and other people. She saw how her team had been struggling with the loss to, and didn't focus on her own sadness.

"It's okay, Lucian." Soul responded gently. Kneeling and putting him down again, she added, "I know you feel responsible for most of the team. I want you to leave that burden to me, okay? I need your help keeping us all together as a team. You supported me when I needed it before, and that's all I want."

Lucian blinked and nodded gratefully. He tossed his head to one side, before turning back with the same kind and gallant expression he'd had when she had first met him.

Standing up, Soul continued, "Guys, these are our new teammates." She opened Edge and Kaito's Pokeballs.

"Edge and Kaito." Soul said, grinning slightly when Emma looked thunderstruck. She, out of all her team, would have understood how rare dragon-types were in Johto at large.

"Hi." Marius said all friendly like, waving his tail in greeting. Edge, true to form, immediately buried himself in Soul's arms. Soul rolled her eyes affectionately at this, placing the Dratini down in front of Marius.

"Hey, it's okay." She chastised gently. "This is Marius, and he's the nicest Flaaffy you'll ever meet. It's okay!"

Edge raised his head and looked nervously at Marius. The Flaaffy smiled and gently pawed at the dragon-type's head. "Nice to meet you." He said.

Edge flicked his tail, looking like he'd like to sink into the earth, and mumbled, "Hi."

Marius looked up at Soul, who shrugged by way of saying, "It's a start."

Kaito raised his head and looked around at her team. Soul had found that the Nidoran could be rather abrasive, given how set he was in believing that he should be King of the Horde. He wasn't...intolerable, at least, but she had found him rather frustrated at points. Twice he'd skipped out on a training battle, claiming it was beneath him, unfazed by her obvious annoyance.

_At least he's committed, _Soul thought with a sigh. Kaito made it clear he wanted to lead the charge in Whitney's gym, and warnings of how powerful her team was only seemed to embolden him. Privately, Soul was still set on using Edge against Milktank no matter what. She didn't want to take any chances with that evil cow.

Soul watched him look between her team in concern – if he managed to alienate them, this journey would become a whole lot longer then it already was.

"Hmm. A rag tag assembly, vassal." Kaito turned towards Lucian. "You! What's your profession?"

Lucian frowned. "I am a knight, sworn to protect and serve my trainer, Soul." He answered easily enough.

"Brilliant." Kaito said. "I am Kaito, lord and king of the horde. I'm glad to have powerful knights at my service?"

"Your service?" Emma said, shooting a look at Soul that plainly conveyed, _is this kid for real_?

"Take it easy, everyone." Soul said, getting everyone's attention. Taking a deep breath, she said, "Kaito and Edge will be the ones taking on Whitney. But first, we've got to train. Lucian, can you help Kaito? Marius, you'll be helping Edge. Emma...keep training. Let's get to work, everyone."

/

Soul had hoped that Lucian's more relaxed and welcoming personality might rub off on Kaito as they worked together, but that didn't seem to be a success so far. From her vantage point, Katio was aggressive and reckless despite Lucian's attempts to reign him in. At least he was gaining levels, as her Pokedex informed her.

Marius and Edge seemed to be getting along better, at least. Soul had figured that Marius was the nicest member of the team, so Edge would be able to warm up to him, at least.

The Dratini was wrecking everything in sight with dragon rage; Soul only needed to take him to the centre when he got tired. Edge seemed to relax whenever he was in the heat of battle; there was complete confidence in him whenever he fired off his powerful attack.

_How could Edge be so confident in battle, and yet so terrified of making friends? _Soul wondered. _It must be because he was a Cage Pokemon. He was a prize up for sale and had no one to talk to until I got him. If I'd grown up like that, the world would look daunting to me..._

Soul was sitting on the fence as she watched her Pokemon grind, keeping an eye on them through the Pokedex. She couldn't help but think in the moments where she had nothing else to do personally.

_Dragon rage should deal with that Milktank in two hits...I just have to raise Edge to the point where he'll be strong enough to tank a few hits from it. If I miss my guess, he could die. I feel terrible...these Pokemon are my first real friends, and every battle they're in risks their lives. _

_This world isn't meant to be like this...is this really just because of a poison in the medical system? Wouldn't that sort of thing be something that could be isolated and removed? I wish I understood more about this world..._

_And Team Rocket's back...I haven't seen them since Azaela, and that worries me. Is it because I haven't gone very far? I would have thought that I'd at least hear things about them by now. Maybe they're trying to keep lower profile after I tossed them out of the well. _

Soul snorted. _Yeah, an entire criminal organization is so terrified of a sixteen year old girl and her band of not-completely-evolved Pokemon that they completely gave up their attempts to return. Sure. They probably set their operations further apart to avoid rousing suspicion. Which would be fine, if I knew where to look for them. _

Marius tossed a Drowsee aside, with Edge bobbling his head in support. Soul smiled. _Marius is growing up a lot...he'll make a great Ampharos. Once I've gotten enough money, I could buy him the Thunder TM. He has great Special Attack, and he'll love it. He's always wanted to throw lightning around. _

Marius pretended to collapse in terror at something Edge said, causing the Dratini to start laughing. _He's the heart of my team. _Soul thought. _I'm lucky I have him. _

Soul turned her attention back to Lucian and Kaito. _I know Kaito learns a good poison attack at a much later level, but I don't think I can afford to keep him unevolved for a long time. Maybe I can do something about that, if there's a move tutor in Johto. _

_Then there's Lucian...Flame Wheel is great, but I want to get him something stronger. Should I try and get him Flamethrower from the Game Corner? It'll take forever, but Lucian will be glad to have it. He could use a few more powerful moves, too..._

Soul kicked her feet and looked up at the sky. This was the most relaxed she'd ever been since arrival. It was difficult for her to remember in the wake of her loss, but being a trainer was easily what she had been best at so far in her life. She enjoyed it, too, in the moments where she succeeded – when her team succeeded.

There was a flash down in the field. Soul blinked and glanced down at her Pokedex. It was Kaito – he was already evolving into Nidorino. Grinning, she launched herself off the fence and rushed across the field to where the light was already dying down.

Kaito raised his head proudly when he heard her coming; he had doubled in size and the horn on his head had grown longer. He looked bulkier and sturdier, too. "I'm halfway to my coronation," He said, before his brow furrowed at the reminder that he didn't have any subjects.

"I'm glad to hear that," Lucian said wearily.

Soul knelt down and looked at Kaito's stats. "You're looking great, Kai." She said. "We can take on Whitney very soon."

"Brilliant!" Kaito boasted. "The leaders of your world will all learn to fear me! I will gain the clout to demand my father's return."

"We'll see about that," Soul responded dryly.

"Are you sure we're ready, Soul?" Emma asked, floating down and alighting next to them. "I'm fairly certain Kaito isn't quite at the Milktank's level."

"Kai won't be fighting the Milktank," Soul revealed. Ignoring Kaito's sputtered protests, she added, "Edge will be. Dragon Rage is an enormous asset, especially because from what I've heard the beast enjoys drinking milk the second it's HP it down to it's last quarter."

"Are you sure you don't want me to fight?" Lucian asked, frowning up at her. "Soul, are you loosing faith in my ability to fight?"

"Of course not," Soul responded, frowning at the question. "I just don't think you have the aptitude for this particular gym. Normal types tend to pack a lot of defence, and both of Whitney's Pokemon pack some unpleasant surprises. I haven't lost faith in you at all, Lucian. You're the reason I've gotten as far as I have."

"Mom? I think Edge is ready," Marius said, nodding towards the Dratini. The dragon type bobbled nervously, half hiding behind the Flaaffy as the team's attention turned towards him. "We got up to the level you wanted."

"Great." Soul said, closing her Pokedex and pocketing it. "First, I'm going to grab some supplies. Then, we're challenging Whitney's gym."

/

The Goldenrod department store was an enormous skyscraper and the single largest building Soul had seen so far; even dwarfing the Magnet Train entrance two streets away. It had everything trainer's needed except for evolution stones, which were given out as gifts in the Pokeatheon dome. Soul bought both drinks and potions there, and while she spied some helpful TMs, she didn't have nearly enough money for any of them.

She also discovered that Professor Elm and her 'mother' were sending her berries and an assortment of other items through the postal service. Soul took a closer look at the berries for the first time – though none of them helped with normal types, they offered an assortment of resistances that could come in handy later on her journey.

Soul also discovered that she could get new clothes here. Given that her two changes were starting to get ratty, she was very grateful for this.

Now, she was standing outside a very pink gym building with a knot of anticipation in her stomach. Even though she had a good counter in the forms of her new teammates, all the stories she had heard had set a fear of the trainers within those walls deep in her gut. She reached for the door, dire memories of close calls flashing before her eyes.

_Avenge us all..._

Soul's eyes narrowed. She had confronted a yakuza boss, and now she was paralysed by fear of some kid who threw a tantrum whenever she lost?

Squaring her shoulders, Soul threw the doors open and stepped inside.

The whole building was very, very pink. It was garish and almost painfully bright, with high ledges surrounding the gym leader in the shape of a Clefairy. It looked like it had been designed by a five year old.

_How old is Whitney? _Soul wondered as she climbed up the stairwell, sending Kaito out against the first trainer who challenged her. The woman balked when she saw the poison type, causing Soul to smile slightly.

Kaito had been raring for his first official fight on the team, so he pretty much wasted the two opposing Pokemon in record time. Soul had to admit – Kaito may lord it up, but he was a powerful addition to the team. Kai proceeded to take on the next trainer without any healing until he had taken down her last Pokemon. Both battles had only taken him down to half health.

As they made their way through the gym, Soul decided he was doing fine, and let Emma and Lucian get some experience along the way. Lucian was happy about it; he was still entertaining some odd notion that Soul was disappointed in his recent performances and determined to remind himself that he wasn't loosing his stride.

Edge was hovering around nervously, not sure that Soul was making a good choice by having him square off against the leader. Marius was the only member of her team who was really calm, even as Soul stepped through the last gate to face off against Whitney.

The pink girl was shorter then Soul and looked younger. If Soul had to guess, she would have put the other girl at twelve years old. It boggled her mind that someone this young was expected to hold the responsibilities of a gym leader.

Yeah, there were Red and Blue, but thanks to their earlier experiences they had a lot more maturity then the girl in front of her.

"So, you're the new challenger!" Whitney said. Her voice was very perky, and despite not being from her world Soul swore she had a valley girl accent.

Whitney rocked on her heels as though she could hardly contain herself. "This is super fabulous, no one's come to my gym in for_ever_! I hope you're strong!"

Soul took a deep breath and raised her Pokeball. Flooded with determination, she yelled, "Kaito? You're up!"

With a flash, Kaito was back on the field. He preened, and then scowled when his opponent failed to look suitably impressed or frightened by his appearance.

Whitney wrinkled her nose. "Why would you use a Nidorino?" She asked. "It's not cute at all."

_Are you for real? _"My team requires more distinctions then 'cuteness'." Soul responded, scowling. "Especially given the circumstances surrounding travelling these days."

"But that's boooring." Whitney complained. "I wanna work with cute Pokemon who don't have to worry about the scary outdoors! Pinkie, use Metronome!"

"Kaito, Double Kick!" Soul ordered.

Kaito nodded and bolted forward. The Clefairy waved a mystical finger, and suddenly unleashed a burst of purple energy.

"Extrasensory?!" Soul exclaimed, both stunned and furious. Kaito shook his head, his body trembling violently. For a moment, Soul was afraid she'd have to call him back, but then he lunged again and unleashed double kick.

"Good work," Soul said breathlessly when Kaito pulled back to her side of the mini arena. Grabbing a super potion, she sprayed his injuries. Kaito grunted in acknowledgement, his attention fully on the fight before him for once, and rushed the Clefairy again.

The Clefairy used Metronome again, and this time it pulled out Meteor Mash! Kaito balked when he saw the super powerful attack headed for him.

_How the hell is it doing that?! _Soul thought furiously as Whitney jumped up and down gleefully, acting like her Pokemon's personal cheerleader.

Kaito's brow furrowed. Dashing all around the arena, he dodged most of the meteors before attacking the Clefairy again. This time, the two kicks he landed on it were enough to knock it out.

"Whaaaat?" Whitney cried, stopping her victory dance midleap. She wilted for a moment, before calling the Clefairy back. "It's time to call out the big guns! Tilda, you're up!"

"Kaito, come back!" Soul called. The red light from Whitney's Pokeball quickly formed into a huge pink bipedal cow. She was almost as big as Soul and definitely bigger then her trainer. Soul's stomach twisted, but she ignored it.

"Edge, your turn!" She declared, sending her Dratini out onto the field. Edge let out an audible squeak when he stared up at his much larger adversary.

"Aawwww!" Whitney gushed, rushing up to the very edge of her square to get a good look at Edge. "He's sooooo adorable! Where did you get him?"

"At...the Game Corner..." Soul said haltingly; she wasn't sure how to react to Whitney's personality and that bothered her. The sugar/adorable child personality horribly clashed with the number of Pokemon who had died to her Milktank."Can we...focus on the battle? Please?"

"Oh." Whitney said, shoulders sinking. "You're no fun," She complained.

Soul felt her eye twitch slightly.

"No...fun? Are you kidding me? What do you think this is, a game?"

Whitney seemed to snap out of her funk at this. "Tilda! Use Stomp!"

"Edge, Dragon Rage!" Soul called. Edge stared in terror at the foot headed for him, and for a second Soul was afraid he was too scared to react.

Then a huge blast of bluish purple light erupted from her diminutive Pokemon, one that belied its size and apparent power, that tossed the giant cow right back on its hind legs. Whitney let out a 'what?!' that was closer to a whine, while the beauty trainers who had been her opponents openly gaped at seeing their leader's most powerful Pokemon dropped to half HP with a single hit.

Edge blinked. "I'm...still alive?" He asked in wonder.

"Edge! You're doing fantastic!" Soul said joyfully. Looking down at her Pokedex, she saw that he just over half his health left from the Stomp attack. The Milktank didn't seem inclined to use its signature rollout, and another stomp shouldn't kill with that much HP left... "Come on, we're so close! Give it another Dragon Rage!"

"Stop him Tilda! Stomp it unconscious!" Whitney shrieked, her voice taking on a scratchy and static tone. Soul's head jerked up and she stared at the opposing gym leader. There was something odd and jerky about her movements; her voice warped into a strangled scream as another blast of bluish purple fire blasted forth.

When the move ran its course, Edge was still standing. Tilda, on the other hand, tipped over backwards and fell down with an ear-rattling crash. VICTORY TO THE CHALLENGER!, a loud voice declared over the speakers, while the sign lit up.

"You did it, Edge!" Soul declared, jubilant. She had cleared the normal gym with no deaths!

"I did it!" Edge said happily.

When the last of the dust and light faded, Whitney was standing stock still. Her eyes seemed glazed over, like she wasn't sure what had just happened.

Soul was about to say something, ask for her badge, when suddenly the girl collapsed like a puppet with her strings cut. Soul's heart jerked; why would Whitney collapse? She had been full of energy a second ago!

She was starting to head towards the girl to see if she was alright when someone grabbed her from behind.

A hand slammed over her mouth, choking out her scream. Another hand grabbed her neck and she was pulled back against someone.

"Do something!" It was one of the beauties; someone grabbed her arms and pinned it against her side. "We can't let her leave, but the signs recorded her victory!"

"We'll hack it," Another one said. "Just hurry up and get the brat to Morty's gym before she wakes up. You, make sure there's no one at the windows; we have an accident to report."

Soul's vision was blurring over; twisting her wrist she knocked against one of her Pokeballs. She bit at the hand over her mouth, but the lack of oxygen was making her weak and dizzy.

_Have...to do something..._She thought weakly. Flailing at her wrist, she knocked one of her Pokeballs to the floor.

A blast of electricity roared past her ear, causing the hands on her neck and mouth to pull back. Soul felt heat and heard screaming before she hit the ground and the world went black.

/

Soul's head was aching when she opened her eyes again. It took a moment for the world to come into focus, but when it did, she saw white walls and soft pink curtains. Slowly propping herself up on her right elbow, Soul glanced to her right and saw Whitney in the bed next to her, hooked up to an IV.

"Soul?"

Soul blinked and saw Lucian under her left arm. Her Quilava looked anguished and worried and overjoyed all at once. He immediately headbutted her stomach and curled up against her like Marius had when he had first hatched.

"Ughhhh...Lucian?" Soul muttered blearily. Blinking heavily, she looked around some more and slowly rested herself against the headrest of the bed. Lucian sat on her stomach, still looking anxiously at her. Her memory was muddled; the last thing she saw was Edge defeating the Milktank.

"...What happened?" She asked eventually.

"We were so worried about you," Lucian murmured, licking her hand. "When Whitney collapsed, those wretched women attacked you in fear of their conspiracy being exposed by her defeat."

"Conspiracy?" Soul muttered.

"Mom!" Marius's voice split the air; Soul looked to the right to see her entire team rush into the room. Marius and Edge both hopped up onto the edges of her bed while Katio and Emma remained on the floor to her right.

"Take it easy, now!" Scolded the Center Nurse, who appeared from the corner a moment later. "Your trainer is just waking up and doesn't need any more stress!"

Soul took a deep breath, which almost hurt her lungs. She couldn't believe it had taken her a full minute to register that she was in a Pokemon Center. But that meant...

"I was really attacked?" She ran her fingers through her hair. Her throat felt sore and her voice was scratchy; running her fingers over it revealed bruises.

"Yes." The Nurse nudged her way through the pack of concerned Pokemon to get a better look at her patient. Placing a hand against the teenager's forehead, she went on, "It was terrible. Your Pokemon brought you here after they took out the gym trainers. We sent some police to collect Whitney and arrest the trainers, but one of them escaped."

"...What happened? Why try and off me because I beat Whitney?" Soul asked blearily.

"Because they were controlling her." The nurse said unhappily.

"...Controlling? How?" Soul rasped, flashing back to the moment Whitney had collapsed. It had been so sudden, like something had been holding her up before that.

"It's a frighting thing, what happened. The reason Whitney's Milktank has been causing so many deaths was because the trainers had been taking Whitney to get her mind altered by the ghost trainers north of here. She was possessed by an angry spirit that would take over whenever Tilda was close to killing a Pokemon and go the rest of the way. Then they would have Whitney's memory of the events erased."

"But...why?" Soul asked, stupefied at the information.

"Well, none of them are really in any condition to talk right now." The nurse said, glancing down at Lucian. The fire type didn't look the slightest bit apologetic, nuzzling his trainer's hand again. "The ringleader was questioned, but she refuses to give anything up."

Glancing down at the readings, she said, "Well the good news is that they didn't manage to do any permanent damage to you, outside of causing you to faint. I should be able to release you by this evening if you promise to take it easy."

Soul glanced over at Whitney. "What about her?" She asked.

"Our gym leader needs more rest." The nurse replied plainly. "I've called Morty, the leader up at Ecruteak. He's a ghost specialist and an expert on possession – he promised to come down as soon as possible to look at her. Unless something comes up, she should be alright."

Soul nodded, rubbing her eyes. "A conspiracy...? Resulting in the deaths of many Pokemon...what does this have to do with Nuzlocke?" She murmured.

**End Chapter**

_**So yeah. there's stuff going on with the gym leaders. It occurred to me that I might need a reason for gym leaders to kill challengers Pokemon, if such a thing should occur, and this is what I came up with. It's part of the overall arc, and there are a bunch of hints I'm laying down for my eventual master plan, so wait and see and hopefully you'll be surprised.**_

_**Read and Review please!**_


	11. Chapter 11

**Moonlight and Fire, a SoulSilver Storylocke**

**Wanda: Welcome back everyone and in this episode I get a teammate I can actually put to good use. (granted, I do catch a technician Mewoth later but I haven't used it yet) I'm sorry I took a great big pause, but I burned out. Things have been a bit difficult for me lately, and thank you to anyone who's been patient with me. I do not own Pokemon**

**Chapter 11: The Stampede and The Dance Theatre**

Soul left the Pokecenter in the evening and made to leave straight away. Nearly getting murdered had set her nerves on edge, and getting her next badge was a perfect excuse for getting out of that place.

A strong autumn wind was blowing through the trees. Soul had lost her sense of timing since she started travelling with no calender to follow; the changing of the season was the only thing she had to go on. Not that she minded; the simple nature of her task allowed her to devote all her attention to it. Her only concern about the changing weather was when she would want to invest in a sweater, and later a winter coat and boots.

As usual, beating the gym had replenished her budget; in fact, she had more money then before which was always welcome. Soul decided that aside from the usual healing items, she should save up money to get TMs later on. Emma in particular was sorely lacking some stronger attacks the further into Johto they travelled.

Soul looked up at the sky as a flock of Pidgy flew by, and smiled. The atmosphere out here was tranquil. While Goldenrod was high energy and exhausting, the further north Soul walked the more ethereal the world seemed.

Lucian was following by her side, looking warily behind him. Knowing that one of her assailants had escaped caused Lucian to insist on being extra vigilant; taking only the beaten path and remaining outside along with Marius for protection.

Soul's bag was heavy with items she had gotten at the department store before leaving; she'd heard warnings about Stantler herds grazing in the area and wanted to be prepared.

"Morty is next on the circuit." She said to Lucian. "Right now, no one here has anything super effective against ghost types, which he specializes in. So before we do anything, I want to look around for new friends in the grass surrounding Ecruteak. Then we're going to train."

"I see." Lucian said.

They travelled for most of the day before something happened.

It was said that trainers often spent their lives surrounded by chaos and adventure, especially after the story of Soul would become widespread after the events of the Nuzlocke epidemic. Historians argued on whether or not it was good that heroes were stalked by adventure and tragedy in equal measure, but they could all agree that Soul had been a magnet of it.

How well she took the many events she was blindsided with varied from story to story, but this particular event was one of the chance events she turned into a victory.

Soul paused, brow furrowing. The wind had stopped, and her feet felt...funny. "Lucian? Can you feel that?"

Lucian blinked, and looked down at the ground. The pebbles near his trainer's shoes were shaking and bouncing as though shaken by an unseen force...

Soul looked up to see another flock of bird pokemon go by, except these ones were crying and shouting in alarm. Soul dropped back into a defensive stance and looked around. _What's going on?_

"It's a stampede!" A woman screamed. Soul spun around, seeing two beauties bolt deep into the forest. They were quickly followed by a pair of twins and a number of other trainers. Screams of panic rang through the air as the trembling of the earth grew stronger.

"What's going on?" Soul asked.

An older man skidded to a halt upon the question, seeing her standing in the middle of the road. He looked haggard and absolutely terrified.

"The Stantler have gone mad! Run for your life!" He shouted, before turning and fleeing down the path.

Soul's eyes widened, and she bolted for the forest Lucian at her heels. The ground began to thunder as the attackers got closer.

The Ecruteak grasslands were the homes of the largest Stantler hordes in Johto. That particular line of Pokemon were known to be aggressive, though they normally kept to themselves unless disturbed by wanderers or predators. However, they were also quite powerful and ran in large hordes; when threatened, a violent stampede wasn't far behind.

"It's a stampede!" Lucian whispered.

Soul nodded and let all of her Pokemon out of their pokeballs, in case they would have to defend themselves. Hoisting herself up into the nearest tree, Soul watched the path.

_Are they headed for Goldenrod? _She wondered. _There are a lot of trainers in the city, but are there protocols to deal with rampaging Pokemon? _

Sure enough, a giant herd of Stantler appeared over the rise, hurtling towards them and in the general direction of Goldenrod City. The herd was huge; dozens of the large normal type were hurtling towards the

Soul was wondering what had caused the stampede when Lucian strained his neck and hissed, "Soul, do you see that?"

"What?" Soul asked, narrowing her eyes.

Within the pack of rampaging Pokemon was a much smaller one.

/

_I'm going to die._

A small foxlike Pokemon was running as fast as his legs would carry him. His sensitive ears were ringing from the pounding of the Pokemon surrounding him and his lungs ached from running, but he didn't dare slow down unless he wanted to be trampled to death. Tears stung at the edges of his eyes though he knew it would do him no good.

He'd been separated from his trainer a long time ago, thanks to a bunch of black clad mauraders. He'd been shut in a cage, doused in water, bullied into fighting other Pokemon in brutal contests to see who got to leave their cages.

He had finally escaped that nightmare...only to to be unleashed into a stampede. He wondered if that was intentional; that the black men had tired of his resistance and devised this as a means of getting rid of him as well as causing the chaos they wanted.

His heart warred between accepting death and making one last jump for freedom.

Either way, if he didn't do something soon the choice would be made for him.

/

"It's an Eevee!" Soul realized.

"It's going to get trampled." Kaito said flatly.

"Nice to know you care," Emma muttered.

"What should we do?" Marius asked, looking up at Soul. "I...I don't want to see anyone else die!"

Soul looked between the herd and the road to Goldenrod and said, "What can we do?"

Lucian glanced up at her. "Anything would be dangerous, Soul. If we do nothing, the city will be in danger. If we do something, we shall be in danger."

Soul's eyes narrowed.

/

The Eevee nearly had a heart attack when a clawlike grip fastened around his stomach. Suddenly, he was yanked into the air, away from the Stantler's hooves and his impending death.

A wall of fire appeared in the herd's path a bare moment later; he saw it flare up towards the sky and the leading Stantler scatter. Out of the forest came blasts of firey purple light, sending the attackers sprawling.

The Eevee watched, incredulous, wondering who or what had saved him as the nature of his rescue became apparent.

The herd had been divided; loosing their momentum, they became easy targets for the number of Pokemon who had come out of the woods. A slender blue dragon slid along the ground, firing off purple flames while a Nidorino hurtled about, knocking down those weakened by the oppressive blasts. As he was swept towards the treeline, the Eevee also saw a Flaaffy and a Quilava near the wall of fire, the latter being the obvious source, driving away any Stantler who still tired to run in the direction of the city.

As suddenly as he was picked up, the Eevee was released. He fell for a moment before dropping into a pair of human arms.

"Are you okay?"

He blinked, trying to refocus his vision from the blurriness caused by sweat and sudden altitude. Slowly, a young human female swam into focus. She had long brown hair and friendly green eyes, a trainer's bag slung over one shoulder.

She seemed nice and her arms were warm and quite suddenly he decided he wanted a nap.

/

"...you sure he's not wild?"

"He's not registered in the database or in any records, so there isn't any other explanation."

The Eevee blinked drowsily and raised first his ears, and then his head as he remembered what had happened to him and his rescue. He was lying on a soft circular cot on a red table. A few feet away from him, the trainer was talking to the centre nurse. The girl waved towards the south and said a few words.

"Of course, we'll send a warning down to Goldenrod just in case, but it's odd that the Stantler would rampage like that...usually they avoid human contact." The nurse sounded worried.

"Something must have riled them up, then." The trainer remarked, glancing over at him. She saw he was awake and smiled. It was the nicest smile he had ever seen on a human.

Turning back towards the nurse, she said, "I broke up the herd, so I think it would be safe for me to check out the area and see what might have caused this. If there's a fire or poachers, I'll report back."

The centre nurse didn't blink at this, despite the fact that the Eevee was pretty sure this trainer hadn't reached her maturity yet. He wondered why they would send her out to confront the Black Men instead of calling for the police.

"What happens to him?" The trainer asked, tipping her head in his direction.

"Well, either he can go back in the wild, or you can capture him." The nurse responded. "He's in good shape considering he was in the middle of a stampede. It looks like his life was pretty rough, though... he has a lot of scars under his fur."

The trainer frowned. She nodded in thanks before walking over to the Eevee.

He looked at her, unsure. She smiled and held out her hand for him. The gesture was alien, but it seemed docile and almost comforting. Raising his head, the Eevee sniffed her fingers. Gently, the trainer rubbed his head between her ears.

The Eevee surprised himself when he started to purr. He thought he would never trust humans again after the Black Men, but the girl had such a disarming kindness to her.

"Hi there," She said. "My name is Soul. What's yours?"

"...Tristan." He responded.

"Do you want to come with me?" Soul asked, friendly and straightforward. "My team and I are travelling all over Johto. Are you interested?"

Tristan blinked, and thought hard.

He had wanted to go to Blackthron, once. His mother had talked about the city at length, back when he'd still been with his original trainer. The high cliffs, the river, the gateway to the Indigo Plateau...she had always wanted to see it.

Besides, this girl had rescued him from the horde. She couldn't be as bad as the black men.

"Alright." He said.

/

"You're of little use to us in this form, vassal. You need to choose your transformation with haste if you're planning to remain with in my herd."

"I'll choose my evolution when I'm ready. And stop calling me vassal!" Tristan said, fur fluffing up.

"Everyone, behave!" Soul snapped, turning around and scowling. Marius and Emma floated back and stepped between the quarrelling Pokemon. Kaito raised his head in the air while Tristan growled and pawed at the ground.

"Kaito, quit pestering Tristan. Everyone on this team is an equal. Or do I need to recall you?" Soul raked her fingers through her hair. _So much for hoping Kaito would get along with everyone! _

"I'm at my wits end here." She muttered, picking up the pace towards Ecruteak. Tristan bounded forward to keep up with her, while Kaito walked at the back dealing with Marius's accusing glare.

Tristan caught up with Lucian, and settled for trailing along behind the Quilava. He wanted to talk to the fire type, but he was uncertain of his place in the team thanks to almost immediately getting off on the wrong foot with one of its current members. He was frustrated with himself for causing problems almost immediately.

"Don't mind Kaito." Lucian said, surprising him. Tristan looked up at the team's most senor member. "He can be difficult, but its because he was born into privilege. It will take him time to adjust to Soul's leadership."

Tristan pawed at the ground, ears flattening against his head. "I wish I knew what I was going to evolve into." He muttered. "It burns me up, but he's right that I'm much weaker now then I will be when I evolve."

Lucian merely nodded in understanding. "Don't rush your decision, Tristan. Your species has multiple evolutions, but once you've chosen you can't go back. Pick the one _you _think will assist you best."

Tristan nodded gratefully.

Ahead of them, Soul pushed through the grass and stepped out on the plains near Ecruteak. "This is where the Stantler usually stay." She said, half to herself. She looked around for a moment before gasping and running to the other end of the clearing.

The trees closest to the city were burned down, and fires still simmered and crackled at the edges of the field.

"Fire starters?" Soul asked, staring while Emma and Marius hurried forward to bury the remaining flames under the dirt. "No wonder the Stantler took off."

"This isn't natural." Marius offered.

Tristan growled. Soul knelt down next to him and asked worriedly, "What's wrong?"

"The Black Men did this." He said, pawing the ground aggressively. "They did this not long after I got away from them."

Something clicked in Soul's head. "Black men? You mean Team Rocket?"

"Yes," Tristan said, ears flattening against his head again.

Soul stood up again, shoulders rigid, scanning the forest for the black cloud gangsters. The forest seemed deserted. _They must have pulled back, _Soul thought. _Ecruteak is the closest city, so they probably pulled back there. I have no idea what to expect, so it's time to teach Lucian Flamethrower and find them. I knew they hadn't given up..._

"Come on, guys," She said. Her voice was cold and quiet, causing her Pokemon to exchanged surprised and uncertain looks. "Let's go to Ecruteak. With how these guys operate, I doubt the people involved have gone very far."

/

Ecruteak had a very macabre and beautiful atmosphere. Soul stepped onto the cobblestone street and a cool wind rushed through her hair. The two towers, one burned and the other glowing slightly in the evening light, stood above the town. The gym looked rather morbid – the colouring and the shape of it made it resemble a crypt.

To the far right of the town, there was a large, decorated theatre.

The Kimono Girl's theatre.

Soul turned towards it and bit her lip.

She wanted to know more about how she got here and why she'd been brought here to this world. On the other hand, she wanted to look for Team Rocket. _Well, I might be able to find some clues if I go there first. _She reasoned. _I mean, it's not like they'll have signs out indicating where they are. _

Shifting the strap of her backpack, Soul started walking towards the theatre.

Upon reaching the theatre, Soul pushed through the double doors and stepped inside. The theatre had a group of uncertain spectators who were watching the stage. On stage, one of the Kimono Girls was being harassed by a Team Rocket grunt.

The man was yelling about dancing and how he wanted something fun. The girl refused to play his game, telling him not to force such a request on her. The man then started dancing on his own...and he was pretty bad at it.

Soul scowled and stalked towards the stage, Lucian and Tristan right on her heels. Soul stepped up to the Rocket Grunt, not bothering to check her temper, and tapped him on the shoulder. "Hey." She said.

The grunt turned around. "What are you – AGH!"

His petulant complaint broke off when Soul punched him square in the nose, knocking him over.

"That was for causing a stampede," Soul said coolly. "Now get lost."

The grunt sat up, clutching his nose and making funny noises. He stared at her for a second, stunned, before throwing a Pokeball at her. A Koffing appeared in the air.

"Lucian?" Soul said with a smirk. "Show them you new move, will you?"

Lucian nodded and unleashed a torrent of fire. The crowd gasped as the powerful move blew the Koffing across the theatre, smashing it against the wall and knocking it out.

The grunt gaped at her. Tristan grinned and pawed at the ground, daring him to make a move. The grunt looked between them, weighed his options, and then ran for the exit.

Soul put her hands on her hips and smiled down at Lucian. Her lead Pokemon smiled back, before tossing his head proudly. Tristan looked awed with his new trainer.

"Thank you," The Kimono Girl said, walking over to her rescuer. "You were very brave."

"I don't mean to brag, but that was pretty easy." Soul responded with a shrug. She jumped when the crowd burst into applause; during the battle she'd forgotten that they had an audience. Blushing, she glanced down and the floor, tapping her heel against the wood.

Working up her courage, she asked, "Can you tell me more about the moon and its guardian? You told me about that when we were in the Illex."

The woman blinked. "I have never been to the Illex. I've never left Ecruteak."

Soul looked at her in confusion. "But...I thought..."

The woman curtsied before saying, "I do know that you are the Silver Girl. You are going the right way, but there are more challenges before you. Some you have not yet realized. But do not fear – you have passed the tests so far beyond our expectations."

"...Thanks, but I really want to know what's going on." Soul said flatly, scowling slightly.

"It will be clear in time." The woman responded.

_I'm getting tired of hearing that. _

**End Chapter**

**Eeeeeee! I love Eevee so much, I have used every single eeveelution. I get it whenever I can, because they can fit into any slot the team requiers. My favorite has defined been my Espeon/Umbreon duo in my White 2 file; they wreck everything. Given the sheer wreckage psychic types do to both Johto and Kanto, you can bet I'm evolving Tristan into Espeon. **

**Read and Review please!**


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